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.
Today's event and its main focus – the EESC opinion on the gender dimension in the Europe 2020 Strategy – are essential to put gender equality and gender mainstreaming on the European agenda.
The EESC has always been very active when it comes to promoting gender equality. Over the last 8 years, we have adopted some 20 opinions on crucial challenges to it.
Staffan Nilsson`s opening speech at the conferenc eon the gender dimension of the Europe 2020 Strategy
The EESC is pleased to learn that, even though belated, a European banking union will come to life. It is crucial that the Member State governments have the breadth of vision to create more Europe, handing over some powers and ensuring that they can be applied, in order to achieve effective European governance that is socially useful and economically efficient. New and stricter rules will offer security to people and markets.
The EESC President welcomes the EU's progress on banking union
Many things have happen since our last Steering Committee meeting at the end of March. Since then, while the economic situation remains fragile, we have witnessed a lot of developments as concerns growth. There is now a growing consensus, not only in Europe, on the need for both stability and growth.
President`s speech at the 9th meeting of the Europe 2020 Steering Committee
Our message to the European Institutions is clear: that both EU and national policies should create a level playing field allowing social entrepreneurship and cooperatives to compete with other forms of enterprises without giving up their aims and working methods.
President`s speech on: "CO-OPERATIVES CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE EU 2020 STRATEGY"
Staffan Nilsson's Intervention before EC President Barroso takes the floor
Welcome! I would say it is a good moment, at the beginning of the year, for us to share our views with you, and for you to share with us the Commission's priorities and the Commission's needs in terms of the advice we can give.
The critical situation we are in is more than about economic aspects, it is about social, political and confidence. I feel to say it again and again that we need structural reforms with long-term effect. We look at this from a non-political perspective, from the civil society perspective. We think that austerity measures are necessary, but it is more than about budget and discipline. The management of economic policy in the euro area and in the EU also needs to be more comprehensive and ambitious.
Staffan Nilsson's Intervention before EC President Barroso takes the floor
I have talked about getting more people in job, especially from specific groups, and about bringing together unemployed people and available vacancies. In fact this boils down to one question: How can we best assist jobseekers? Key words in this context are "efficiency" and "innovation". We need to strive for efficient and innovative assistance to jobseekers, which is the title of today's conference.