The annual revision of the Eurostat SDG Report must be an opportunity for broader dialogue with civil society concerning which indicators be included and what the target for each of these should be. This own-initiative opinion examines how organised civil society could be better involved in a more qualitative follow-up of the annual revision of the Eurostat SDG report as part of SDG monitoring and follow-up programmes that have been established.
Download — EESRK nuomonė: Indicators better suited to evaluate the SDGs – the civil society contribution (own-initiative opinion)
The key message of the opinion is that transforming the energy system towards carbon-free, decentralised and digitalised supply offers enormous opportunities, in particular for structurally weak and rural regions in Europe. The development of renewable energy (RE) can have a major and beneficial impact on employment, and can be configured so as to provide a completely new stimulus for the regional economy. There is therefore potential for mutually reinforcing the positive effects of Europe's energy and cohesion policies. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) finds it regrettable that both the Commission and the Member States have yet to properly recognise this potential, let alone exploit it.
Download — EESC opinion: The effects of a new carbon-free, decentralised and digitalised energy supply structure on jobs and regional economies (own initiative opinion)
The circular economy monitoring framework draws upon and complements the existing Resource Efficiency Scoreboard and Raw Materials Scoreboard, which were developed in recent years by the Commission.
Download — EESRK nuomonė: Monitoring framework for the circular economy (communication)
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - The Future of Food and Farming
Download — EESRK nuomonė: The future of food and farming (Communication)
The EESC considers that social economy enterprises have a fundamental role since they are active in four key aspects of the migrant integration process: health and assistance, housing, training and education, as well as work and active inclusion. It believes that social economy enterprises can encourage and support not just the creation of new jobs, but also entrepreneurship and access to economic activities for migrants and refugees. It therefore asks the European institutions to prioritise policies geared towards social economy enterprises, a request it also made in its contribution to the Commission's 2018 work programme.
Download — EESRK nuomonė: Social economy enterprises as a driver for migrant integration (own-initiative opinion)
The Commission will prepare an action plan with a view to improve duty-holder compliance, which is meant to lead to a more level playing field for businesses and improved trust amongst Member States,
Download — EESRK nuomonė: Actions to improve environmental compliance and governance (Communication)
The European Economic and Social Committee welcomes the opportunity to provide an opinion on the Third report on State of the Energy Union by the European Commission, as it did before for the first and second reports. As expressed in previous opinions, the EESC strongly supports the idea of a European Energy Union and would like to stress that the Energy Union is not only relevant to sectoral policies such as energy, transport and climate but offers opportunities to make Europe more democratic, more cohesive, more competitive, and more just.
Download — EESC opinion: Third report on the State of the Energy Union
