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.
The COPA (Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations) Women's Committee has launched its 4th European Innovation Award for women farmers. This year's title is Women farmers as drivers of innovation and green growth in the European Union.
Five winners, coming from Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden were selected. In rewarding them, the EESC also wishes to acknowledge the contribution made by so many other committed women in rural areas.
The EESC president, Georges Dassis, who was on an official visit to the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council, met with the CESE president, Patrick Bernasconi, and several members of the Bureau on Tuesday 11 October.
"Just get to do it" says Rob Hopkins, the co-founder of the Transition network while showing impressive examples of peoples' initiatives which are making their environment greener and their societies more resilient. The transition movement already exists in over ..
On 12 October, Georges Dassis, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), will be for the first time in Portugal in this quality, to attend the 25th anniversary of the Portuguese Economic and Social Council (CES), in Lisbon.
The event will start with an opening speech by the President of Portuguese CES, Luís Filipe Pereira, and will have the special participation of the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
On 10 October 2016, Roman Haken was invited to the first brainstorming meeting on the white book on governance and participation in EU Macro-Regional Strategies, organised by Foster Europe in Stockholm
On 6 and 7 October, the President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Georges Dassis, and the Secretary-General, Luis Planas will attend the Annual Meeting of the Presidents and Secretaries-General of the national ESCs of the EU and the EESC.
This year's meeting will be dedicated to "The future of work and social rights in a changing Europe".
Georges Dassis, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), participated in the presentation of the pilot project "European Framework for mobility of apprentices", in Toledo, Spain, on 30 September.
After the enormous success of the Erasmus programme (for higher education students), the European Union is launching a new project, this time focused on vocational education for trainees and apprentices (who do not go to university or college).
From 3 to 5 October 2016, in Bragança, Portugal, Mr Henri Malosse participated in the closing ceremony of the X European Mountain Convention "Mountains’ vulnerability to climate change: how can people and territories adapt and mitigate its effects?"
Employers' organisations and trade unions alike will have to adapt to the tremendous changes that the 4th industrial revolution is bringing to labour markets. Employers stress the importance of making labour markets more flexible in order to fully grasp the opportunities provided by Industry 4.0, while trade unions emphasise that changes cannot undermine the protection of workers. The 4th industrial revolution is generating uncertainty and anxiety among workers and employers and so the more we work on identifying potential opportunities and risks, the better. Responsible, frank and open social dialogue at national level has a crucial role to play in this process. These are some of the conclusions emerging from the discussion on "Will the 4th industrial revolution radically change the roles and importance of both employers’ organisations and trade unions?"
On 3 and 4 October 2016, Mr Roman Haken participated in the Meeting of Directors General responsible for Urban Matters in Bratislava. This meeting was attended by the European Commission, Member States, the Committee of the Regions, ESPON, URBACT, EUKN, EIB, CEMR, Eurocities and other stakeholders. The complex agenda, prepared by the Slovak Presidency, was chaired by Ms Elena Szolgayova, Director General of DG Housing Policy and Urban Development, Slovak Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development.