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 EESC has been working on the topic of Social Economy Enterprises for the past decade and a dedicated permanent study group has been created in 2016. In view of the success of the European Day of Social Economy Enterprises in 2016 and 2017, it was proposed to organise a third edition of this event.
While the environmental benefits of the transition to low-carbon energy supply systems have been widely discussed, economic effects have only been touched upon in a piecemeal fashion, e.g. through employment in the renewable energy sector, the increasing cost competitiveness of energy from renewable sources, or the rise of energy poverty. In particular, it remains unclear how the economies of Europe's diverse regions are affected by the shift to decentralised, low-carbon energy supply. As recent political initiatives in relation to coal regions and islands however show, Europe's energy transition has a distinctively regional dimension. The EESC is currently working on an own-initiative opinion on "The effects of a new carbon-free, decentralised and digitalized energy supply structure on jobs and regional economies". In this opinion, it seeks to take stock of existing economic analyses on the regional effects and develop an assessment framework. To this end, it invites representatives from the regions, civil society, and experts from the EU institutions and beyond to discuss new approaches to regional development propelled by regional energy transition in the context of a public hearing.
The 12th meeting of the EU Advisory Group for the EU-Central America Association Agreement took place on 30 May in Brussels. Please click on the programme tab to consult the topics on the agenda.
The main objective of the hearing will be to debate the impact of artificial intelligence on different sectors of work and to discuss how to anticipate these changes and developments in order to reduce the negative impact on workers, businesses and consumers, and to ensure a fair transition.
Getting ahead of the game by providing the data needed to better understand the effects of artificial intelligence in Europe and in the Member States is an absolute must. This hearing can help provide a clearer picture of the opportunities and challenges generated by the digital revolution.
Kreishaus Grevenbroich, Auf der Schanze 4, 41515 Grevenbroich (Conference hall)
Grevenbroich
Germany
During the energy transition towards the low-emission economy, the EU energy system faces a period of profound technological, economic and social change that will affect many of the energy sectors, including the coal industry and hence the coal-mining regions of the EU. However, the currently active coal-mining regions have to prepare for the phasing-out of coal production to be in line with EU energy and climate policy decisions on fossil fuel use or for economic reasons.
The 16th EU-China Civil Society Round Table will take place in Varna, Bulgaria from 28 May to 29 May 2018.
The topics of the Round Table meeting will be the following: Social security and social solidarity mechanisms, and trade and investment as part of EU-China relations. In the fringes of the Round Table, a tripartite seminar on EU-China Tourism Year 2018 will be organised.
The European Economic and Social Committee is holding a public debate to explore and propose indicators that are suited to European civil society's needs for monitoring the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Citizenship, Democracy & Culture in digitalised Europe
EESC
Brussels
Belgium
This year's Civil Society Days will take place right after the plenary session at which the European Economic and Social Committee celebrates its 60th anniversary.
The focus of this Civil Society Days will be on fostering the current debate about the future of Europe and on highlighting the role across Europe of the civil society organisations which come together in the EESC to represent "Europe at work".
In line with this twofold emphasis, the CivSocDays 2018 will address Europe at work in relation to a dimension which has permeated our everyday working and living environment and will affect and shape our future, as well as the future of Europe: the digital world.
Grand Hémicycle du Parlement européen
Salle PHSHEM
Brussels
Belgium
535th Plenary Session, with Thursday 24 May 2018, 9 a.m., the commemorative session for the 60th anniversary of the EESC, with the participation of Ramón Valcarcel Siso,Jean-Claude Juncker, Karl-Heinz Lambertz, and Roger Briesch.
In September 2016, the EESC adopted an own-initiative opinion on "The rights of live-in care workers". It was a first policy document at the European level dealing with the sector of live-in care work in Europe. As follow-up to this initiative, the EESC will carry out 5 country visits to countries of origin and destination of live-in care workers (United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Poland) to deepen the research on labour and work conditions of these persons and the quality of care delivery. The findings will be presented in a report to be released by the EESC later in 2018.