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.
Evaluation and responses to the Roma housing situation
Location
Rue Belliard 99, 1040
Brussels
Belgium
The permanent group on Inclusion of the Roma is organising a public hearing on 31 March 2023 on ''Relieving housing precarity amongst the Roma: evaluation and responses to the Roma housing situation''. The Roma are amongst the most deprived communities in Europe, some of them living in segregated areas and inadequate housing conditions. The hearing will look at the housing situation of the Roma population, focusing on its financing and on the problem of segregation. It will look at the objectives of the EU Roma strategic framework 2020-2030 in relation to housing, discussing recommendations and identifying best practices.
The 11th meeting of the EU-Moldova Civil Society Platform took place on 30 March 2023. During the meeting, a debate focused on assessing the progresses of Moldova in the implementation of the European Commission recommendations regarding its accession to the EU, as well as the state of play of the implementation of the EU-Moldova Association Agreement.
Room VMA 2, VMA building, Rue Van Maerlant 2, 1040
Brussels
Belgium
As in previous years, the Bureau of the European Migration Forum has decided to organise a consultation with civil society on the topic of the next Forum. This consultation consists of a survey and a meeting on 30 March.
The EESC´s Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (CCMI) organised a hearing on initiative on virtual worlds, such as the metaverse, with the participation of civil society stakeholders.
HOTEL INTERNATIONAL PRISHTINA, RR. SHKUPI, VETERNIK
Pristina, KOSOVO
This years' meeting of the EESC's Western Balkans Follow-up Committee outside of Brussels took place on 29 March 2023 in Pristina, Kosovo, and it included a hearing with the local civil society organisations (CSOs).
The goal of the hearing was to listen to the views on the role of civil society in Kosovo as well as to hear their concerns, and to convey these messages to the political authorities of Kosovo and of the EU.
The following topics were discussed at the hearing:
2023 European Year of Skills: skills, education and youth policy in Kosovo
State of social dialogue in Kosovo
Enabling civic space in Kosovo
@EESC_REX #EESC_WB
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
As part of its work on the exploratory opinion requested by the forthcoming Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU on Measures to fight stigma against HIV, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is holding a remote public hearing on 29 March 2023 from 10:00 to 13:00.
By means of a discussion with civil society organisations and socio-professional stakeholders, the event will examine possible measures to fight stigma against HIV and to help improve prevention and the quality of life of people with HIV.
The Vietnam DAG members, invited to Brussels by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), met the EU DAG members on 28 March 2023. The overarching objective of the visit was capacity building. It was an occasion for the members to exchange views on topical issues and on the work of the respective DAGs since the joint meetings in October 2022.
There was also a workshop on the EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD) with presentations of the institutional view.
The 3rd Joint Meeting of the Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs) under the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement featured updates on the activities of the Singapore and EU DAGs since the December 2021 meeting, as well as a topical discussion on EU-Singapore trade prospects in the current geopolitical landscape.
European Economic and Social Commitee - 99 rue Belliard
1040 Brussels
Belgium
Every year, schools from all European Union Member States and candidate countries are invited to apply to take part and one school from each country is then selected at random. The selected schools each choose three pupils and one accompanying teacher to come to Brussels for two days, to work together, debate and draw up resolutions addressed to the EU institutions. All secondary schools in Europe can apply and this year, it could be your school!
The event is planned to take place in person at the EESC's headquarters, on 23 and 24 March 2023. The discussions will focus on youth and democracy, on how active citizenship fosters participatory democracy and the role of youth voices and initiatives in achieving this.
The EESC, as the voice of civil society, wants to ensure that the ideas of Europe's younger generation are heard.
Stay tuned for the launch of the event, expected later this month!