The EESC issues between 160 and 190 opinions and information reports a year.
It also organises several annual initiatives and events with a focus on civil society and citizens’ participation such as the Civil Society Prize, the Civil Society Days, the Your Europe, Your Say youth plenary and the ECI Day.
Here you can find news and information about the EESC'swork, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
The EESC brings together representatives from all areas of organised civil society, who give their independent advice on EU policies and legislation. The EESC's326 Members are organised into three groups: Employers, Workers and Various Interests.
The EESC has six sections, specialising in concrete topics of relevance to the citizens of the European Union, ranging from social to economic affairs, energy, environment, external relations or the internal market.
Le CESE trouve les conclusions de la Commission relatives aux effets de la directive sur les services et au fonctionnement du secteur des services prématurées. La directive n'est en vigueur que depuis quelques années. Le fait que tous les États membres ne sont pas également satisfaits de la directive et qu'ils doivent la mettre en œuvre différemment dans leur propre législation sont des facteurs complexes qui ne sont pas repris dans la Communication. Le secteur des services est vaste et compliqué et se compose de plusieurs branches. Il faudra du temps pour rationaliser le marché intérieur des services au moyen de la réglementation européenne.
Secondo il nuovo studio commissionato dal Comitato economico e sociale europeo, i servizi transfrontalieri generano nuova occupazione e crescita economica, e hanno effetti positivi per tutti i paesi dell'UE e per diverse categorie di posti di lavoro, sia quelli ad alta intensità di manodopera che i posti di lavoro ad alta intensità di conoscenza. Lo studio dimostra che il fatto di evitare una regolamentazione stringente nel mercato interno dei servizi transfrontalieri costituisce un vantaggio per l'economia dell'Unione europea. Una riduzione dell'1 % della quota dei servizi transfrontalieri potrebbe rappresentare per l'economia dell'UE un costo di circa 8 miliardi di euro.
The EESC held the fourth of its Going Local meetings on the live-in care sector in the EU, this time in Poland. The country provides much of the sector's workforce in western EU Member States, but has itself started to face a serious shortage of qualified carers in recent years
The Employers' Group did not support the EESC opinion on driving and rest time periods, working time and posting of workers (TEN/637). For the Group, the opinion did not sufficiently reflect differences of views in the Committee concerning the Commission's proposal on the posting of workers.
The Commission's proposal on industrial policy is a step in the right direction, but the EU needs a long term, comprehensive strategy: this is one of the conclusions of the debate at the Employers' Group meeting on 6 December 2017. The aim of the debate was to contribute to two opinions on industrial policy that the EESC is currently working on.
The European Commission is proposing to revise the so-called Posting of Workers Directive from 1996, which affects some 2 million workers in the EU. Posted workers are employed in one Member State, but sent to work temporarily in another country by their employer. The general view of the EESC Employers' Group is that the existing EU legislation on the posting of workers - namely the original 1996 Posting Directive and the 2014 Enforcement Directive which aims to strengthen the practical implementation of the Posting Directive - strikes a proper and fair balance between supporting the cross-border provision of services and protecting the rights of posted workers. It also ensures a level playing field between foreign and local competitors.
From 9:30 to 13:00 - Room VMA3 - EESC, 2 rue Van Maerlant - 1040 Brussels
Belgium
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is pleased to announce that a Public hearing on the Application of State aid rules for compensating the provision of services of general economic interest will be held on 10 May 2017 from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the headquarters of the EESC, 2 rue Van Maerlant - 1040 Brussels, Room VMA 3.
The main objective of the hearing is to brainstorm on the challenges and opportunities arising from the current State Aid rules for services of general economic interest.
In the light of the ongoing EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is drafting an own-initiative opinion on "The position of the EESC on specific key issues of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations". In this framework, the EESC is organising a public hearing, to be held at the Committee premises on 30 June 2016, beginning at 9 a.m.
The main purpose of this event will be to exchange views with representatives from the European Union institutions involved in the TTIP negotiations, as well as from civil society organisations and consultancy firms, in order to gather relevant information and deepen understanding of the matter. The four sessions will focus on the following topics: 1) Regulatory cooperation, good regulatory practices, technical barriers to trade; 2) Services; 3) Investment protection and the Investment Court System (ICS); 4) Trade and sustainable development.