The EESC expresses concerns over rising geopolitical risks, unstable trade dynamics, and the investment deficit in Europe, stressing the need to strengthen EU competitiveness and enhance defence capabilities. The Committee also believes that it is necessary to adopt a set of measures to strengthen investment by ensuring the implementation of all Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds, with the new targets and, if necessary, deploying unused funds for new investment programmes in European public goods, creating a European Fund for Strategic Investment, strengthening the EIB's lending capacity to expand InvestEU and exploring the possibility of using European Stability Mechanism funds.
Download — advies EESC: Additional considerations on the way forward for the European Semester 2025
The EESC welcomes the overall positive trade balance of the EU and calls for measures to maintain it, while recommending targeted support for strategically important industries, stronger investment conditions, and effective financing through the Single Market, the Savings and Investments Union, and a more integrated capital market. The EESC also underlines the need to support ambitious companies entering global markets, ensure opportunities for highly skilled professionals, simplify procedures without undermining social and environmental standards, create fiscal space for growth-enhancing investments, and strengthen multilateralism through new trade agreements and WTO reforms.
Download — advies EESC: Additional considerations on the Euro area economic policy 2025
Download — advies EESC: Boosting sustainable growth and quality jobs in Euromed: promoting entrepreneurship and tapping the potential of women and young people
In this Opinion, the EESC warns that democracy, the rule of law and European values face growing threats from both external actors, such as third-country governments and tech companies, and internal ones, including some Member States, extremist parties and 'uncivil' society. It calls for stronger EU action through stricter enforcement of rule of law standards and conditionality, protection of civic space, and simpler, fairer funding for civil society, starting with the next multiannual financial framework (MFF). The EESC urges embedding democracy protection in enlargement policy and supporting candidate countries to build resilience. The Opinion also highlights the fight against disinformation and propaganda, promoting media literacy, reducing digital dependence on third countries, and reinforcing initiatives such as EuroStack and East StratCom to strengthen democratic resilience.
Download — advies EESC: The European Democracy Shield
This exploratory opinion, requested by the Danish Presidency, outlines how AI and Big Data can improve rare disease patient pathways and support the development of personalised treatments. It highlights the main challenges linked to their use, such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, affordability, and geographical accessibility. In the text, the EESC puts forward recommendations to ensure that these technologies are applied in an ethical, inclusive, and patient-centred way.
Download — advies EESC: AI, Big Data and rare diseases
Prepared at the request of the Danish Presidency, this opinion recommends that the EU and the Member States ensure that occupational safety and health (OSH) protection and prevention of OSH risks are ensured for all people at work, regardless of their employment contract, job title, or training path. According to the EESC, this protection should include a minimum and comprehensive standard of physical, mental, and social well-being in the workplace.
The EESC recommends strengthening cooperation and shared responsibility among all stakeholders, particularly the social partners, to ensure effective OSH management. Active involvement of workers’ representatives and the promotion of social dialogue at company level are essential.
The EESC stresses the importance of stepping up compliance and enforcement of existing OSH rules as a key step towards achieving the Zero Deaths goal.
Download — advies EESC: How can an active and inclusive prevention approach contribute to better health and safety at the workplace – 0-death goals?
Given the significance of the provision of public goods for the well-being of the citizens, the EESC believes that particular attention should be paid to providing these European public goods (EPGs) and identifying them in the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) post-2027.
Special attention must be given to ‘functional EPGs’ – those linked to Article 3 TEU – that can ensure the normal functioning of the EU: the completion of the single market; the completion of the economic and monetary union; economic, social and territorial cohesion; EU open strategic autonomy (e.g. the joint EU health policy, food security, the EU energy union); defence and security; EU research and development; and the rule of law.
Download — advies EESC: European Public Goods: policy priority for financing the EU's sustainability growth and facing global challenges
On 5 February 2025, the European Commission released its Communication on a “Comprehensive Toolbox for Safe and Sustainable E-Commerce.” The EESC opinion will build on this proposal to develop concrete measures that ensure fair competition with third-country online platforms.
Download — advies EESC: Call for fair competition with regard to 3rd country platforms
The European Economic and Social Committee emphasizes the urgent need for climate action to prevent the worst impacts of climate change from affecting societies and, ultimately, the EU population, and views the European Climate Law as a key instrument in achieving this goal. CO2 levels emitted into the atmosphere have continued to rise globally, with a new peak being reached in 2023. The EESC is convinced that the greatest support for climate policy will be established if the overall aim is to achieve the highest greenhouse gas emissions reduction at the lowest socio-economic costs.
Download — advies EESC: European Climate Law amendment
The EESC assesses how the EU’s sustainable finance framework can be made more robust and fit for purpose given its importance for the EU’s economic, social and climate objectives. The EESC affirms that simplification should not come at the cost of ambition. While administrative streamlining is needed, the focus should be on how requirements can be implemented more effectively, not on weakening standards. The EU’s regulatory strength and predictability are important competitive advantages that should be preserved amid growing geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Download — advies EESC: A new impetus for the European sustainable finance framework
The opinion examines the role of start-ups and scale-ups in the EU economy, by taking into account the related Strategy adopted by the European Commission.
Download — advies EESC: European start-ups and scale-ups
Download — advies EESC: How apprenticeships and dual learning schemes can bolster the skills that businesses need in order to face the challenges of the green and digital transitions
This opinion intends to discuss the relationship between water resilience, digitalisation and the green transition. It aims to propose recommendations to address the different challenges involving water, digitalisation and decarbonisation from an industrial perspective.
Download — advies EESC: Water resilience and the twin transition: Industrial approaches addressing the relationship between water, digitalisation and decarbonisation
The EESC opinion looks into how industry practices influence public health and contribute to the rise of non-communicable diseases, aiming to identify barriers to effective policies and propose stronger preventive measures.
Download — advies EESC: Commercial determinants of health
