Sustainable development

This page is also available in:

  • Transforming societies from fossil-fuel based to circular and sustainable will require far-reaching changes in all sectors, including education. In an own-initiative opinion, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls for transformative education that empowers young people to contribute to the green transition.

  • The EESC held a conference on the future of European strategic autonomy. The event was organised jointly by three Committee bodies; the Digital Transition and Single Market Observatory, the Labour Market Observatory and the Sustainable Development Observatory. Policy-makers, experts from organised civil society and academia, as well as youth representatives, gathered to discuss how to overcome current and future obstacles to a self-sufficient EU in times of great geopolitical tensions and multiple crises.

  • In two newly adopted opinions, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) gives updated views on the Commission's Annual Sustainable Growth Survey 2022, which outlines the upcoming economic and employment policy priorities for the EU, as well as on the Recommendations on euro area economic policy for 2022. The EESC calls for a balanced approach that does not jeopardise the EU's social and environmental goals.

  • The EESC is currently gathering inputs and views of diverse European actors working on the agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Civil society organisations who want to share their views on the EU’s internal and external implementation of the SDGs, are invited to submit their contribution via the online consultation.

  • Academia, local civil society organisations, representatives of regional and national authorities and members of the European Economic and Social Committee met at a conference in Dolni Vítkovice, a former industrial area for coal mining and steel production in Ostrava, on 11 October 2022. The conference on Reinventing the Moravian-Silesian Region in search of a socially just transition was organised by the EESC's Civil Society Organisations' Group as part of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU.

  • An interview with Tatjana BABRAUSKIENĖ, Head of International Relations at the Lithuanian Education and Science Trade Union. Currently a member of the NAT, SOC and REX sections, she's very active in education and its link to sustainable development.

  • The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls on the European Commission to publish an overdue report to consider extending the EU's sustainability taxonomy's scope to social objectives.

  • The Civil Society Organisations' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee in partnership with Irish Rural Link, the national network representing the interest of rural communities, are holding a joint conference on 'Just Transition' next Thursday, 9 June in Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

  • On 10 May, the vice-president of the European Parliament Evelyn Regner took part in the European Day of the Liberal Professions 2022, which was hosted by the Liberal Professions Category of the EESC. She spoke during the opening session of the annual conference, which focused on the topic of Liberal Professions: Lessons Learned and Challenges ahead. Various civil society and other institutional representatives participated in the event.

  • At this critical time for trade and sustainable development (TSD), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held the first European Civil Society Forum on TSD. This was a platform bringing together civil society, academia, EU and international institutions to discuss innovative ideas and concrete recommendations on the future of the EU’s trade policy. A series of breakout sessions covered TSD topics from substantive rights to monitoring, enforcement and much more, inviting participants to voice their views as part of the ongoing review of the 15-point action plan on TSD and recent developments in EU partner countries.