News

  • TTIP, labour, migration and energy were the main topics discussed during the Extraordinary Bureau Meeting of the Employers' Group which took place on 6 and 7 June in The Hague. The Members of the Bureau had the opportunity to exchange views with representatives of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER), VNO-NCW, The Hague Security Delta, The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, Deltares, Airborne and CEEMET.

  • "The European Economic and Social Committee considers that the participation of Roma at all stages of decision-making is essential for achieving effective policies that can make a real difference to their situation within the EU. However, the tools available today are not sufficient in this regard"

  • Photo©présidence de la République/J.Bonet

    This Friday 10 June, the President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Georges Dassis, will go to the Élysée Palace, where he will be received by the French President. Along with nine other signatories, he will promote the Appeal of 9 May for a European renaissance, and is counting on France to lead efforts to relaunch the European project.

  • shutterstock/JeKh

    The functional economy and how it works in practice was discussed at a public hearing, organised on the 8th June by the European Economic and Social Committee. The focus is on the function of the product rather than on the product itself - the functional economy considers how the product can be used most efficiently. "The concept of the functional economy has to be well-defined. We also have to explore the effect it will have on the creation of jobs and the advantages of a long lasting product which can be used by more than one consumer", said the EESC Rapporteur Thierry Libaert in his opening speech.

  • "Many examples have shown that pressure on suppliers or intense competition between them can lead to situations where workers work in dangerous conditions without decent employment contracts or social security or for very low wages and without real opportunities to join or form unions to defend their rights,"

  • On 7 June 2016, in Warsaw, Mr Baráth participated as a speaker in a conference on "Achieving Good Living Environment: Territory Matters. What's beyond 2030 for Macro-Regions?" organised by VASAB, an intergovernmental multilateral co-operation of 11 Baltic Sea Region countries in spatial planning and development, in order to bring a regional input into the implementation of European territorial cohesion objective.

  • A European Pensions Tracking Service is feasible and beneficial for citizens and pension providers alike

    "As a defender of workers’ rights, including their right to a safe mobility and to continuous information, I am pleased to see the emergence of a European project aimed at tracking pension rights across Europe. In my view, seeking a truly European solution instead of applying a pre-existing system on a European scale is a sensible choice," said the President of the European Economic and Social Committee George Dassis at a conference organised jointly by the TTYPE (Track and Trace Your Pension in Europe) Consortium and the EESC. "Since the European Tracking Service would serve public purposes (informing citizens on their pension rights and removing obstacles to intra-European mobility), as well as private purposes (helping institutions for retirement provision to better inform their members), I believe that it should at least be co-financed by the Commission."

  • CIVIL SOCIETY DAYS 2016

     

    Representatives from European civil society organisations and networks, members of the EESC and European institutions gathered in Brussels on 31 May and 1 June for the annual Civil Society Days, hosted by the EESC. The main focus of the discussions over the 2-day event was migration and the challenges and changes that this presents to our European society to make the most of it.

  • Article of Georges Dassis at the GMB European Newsletter: http://www.gmb.org.uk/assets/media/gmbbrussels/GMB%20European%20News%20…

     

  • President Dassis calls for more commitment in Europe

    "The most remarkable aspect of  this new global agenda is that in a world where tensions, national egotism and conflict are on the rise, world leaders have reached agreement on a common vision and a roadmap that addresses the major global challenges of our times: ending poverty and ensure the well-being and respect for human rights, peace and the protection of our planet", said President Georges Dassis at the "How to make SDGs Europe's business"  conference