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.
Statement of the President of the Employers' Group
On 20 February 2019 the EESC adopted an opinion calling for an EU framework directive on minimum income. The Employers' Group fully shares the view of the EESC that fighting against poverty is a necessity. However, for us the instrument proposed in the opinion is not the correct one. For this reason, the Group tabled a counter-opinion, presenting its views on measures needed to reduce poverty. The counter opinion was supported by almost 40% of the EESC Members.
This agreement is a concrete step to make the lives of European working parents and carers easier, said Gaby Bischoff, President of the Workers Group at the EESC.
While wishing the Social Pillar a happy first birthday, the Workers' Group believes the best birthday present for the Pillar would be for the EU institutions to deliver on their commitments: we call on them to adopt strong proposals to improve working people's lives, before the European elections in May 2019.
The upcoming protest against the pension reform taking place in Zagreb on 20th October under the slogan Dozivi niirovinu! Itebe se tice!-calls the Croatian citizens to fight for a retirement age which cannot be from "work to cemetery". You are defending not only decent conditions of work, but a fundamental right for all workers, old and young.
The EESC held the fourth of its Going Local meetings on the live-in care sector in the EU, this time in Poland. The country provides much of the sector's workforce in western EU Member States, but has itself started to face a serious shortage of qualified carers in recent years
The Workers’ Group of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is following with great concern the situation unfolding in the Federative Republic of Brazil. There have been serious attacks on the social, labour and trade union rights of Brazilian workers: a very tough labour reform that harms the social dialogue, hard won social rights have been cut, independent media have been closed and Brazil’s young democracy, obtained after 20 years of dictatorship (1964-1984), is threatened.