The UN's Global Compact for Migration was on the agenda of the hearing held at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 2 May 2019, where a number of stakeholders met to discuss its implementation. EESC members José Antonio Moreno Díaz and Séamus Boland insisted that the complex topic of migration needed to be better explained to the public at large, underlining that civil society had an essential role to play.

The European Economic and Social Committee believes that aging in dignity should become a fundamental right. Europeans live longer, and this is good news.  But with aging, new social, economic and health-related challenges are emerging which affect both the elderly and their families and societies. For too long this topic has been neglected and the growing needs of older people not anticipated, says the EESC. In its opinion, the EESC highlights the enormous potential older people represent for new jobs and technological progress.

Building up a more sustainable and resilient European economy and completing Economic and Monetary Union should be priorities for the next European Commission and European Parliament: these points emerged from a public hearing held by the European Economic and Social Committee on 12 April 2019.

Civil society representatives from both the EU and Turkey called on Turkish authorities to undertake major reforms in the fields of rule of law and human rights as a prerequisite to resume accession negotiations with the EU. This was one of the main conclusions of the 38^th meeting of the EU-Turkey Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) held in Brussels on 8 and 9 April, which also agreed on the important role of the JCC as an open channel for exchanges at civil society level.