Opinions with Civil Society Organisations - Group III members as rapporteur/co-rapporteur/rapporteur-general

In this opinion, the EESC presents its recommendations on the proposed EU Anti-Poverty Strategy. It explores the initiatives that social partners and civil society  could undertake to better adapt policy frameworks for combating poverty, and how they can effectively address its root causes to decisively reduce poverty levels and ensure a sustained downward trend.

The EESC recalls the importance of civil society for democratic societies, and calls for a strengthening of in civil dialogue and civic participation at European level, including of the EESC's own role. It calls for a the adoption of an interinstitutional agreement on civil dialogue to ensure consistent civil dialogue practices across EU institutions, and proposes launching a pilot project for a civil society platform, which should among others monitor civil dialogue through an annual scoreboard and host an annual event on civil dialogue.

In the current context of multiple crises, in addition to digital challenges, urges the EU institutions and Member States to act on the EESC’s proposals on social and civil dialogue to engage individual citizens in democracy in general. It proposes to work closely with the Commission in the creation, governance and regular operation of a civil society platform and to act as a hub and custodian for public and organised civil society participation, and recalls that the Conference on the Future of Europe explicitly calls for the EESC’s institutional role to be enhanced and for it to be empowered as a facilitator of participatory democracy activities, such as structured dialogue with civil society.

In this own-initiative opinion, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is  addressing the growing disparities in healthcare access across the EU. These inequalities, exacerbated by inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, disproportionately affect vulnerable groups such as low-income households, people with disabilities, children, and older people. The opinion calls for urgent action to ensure equitable access to healthcare and long-term care, in line with the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR), and proposes concrete policy recommendations to strengthen healthcare systems and reduce barriers to care.