In this own-initiative opinion, the EESC argues that deeper integration of the Single Market is essential to boost productivity, particularly in the services sector, which remains less integrated despite its growing economic importance.
The new European Grids Package seeks to strengthen and modernise the EU’s energy infrastructure, ensuring secure, affordable and increasingly clean energy flows across Member States. It introduces a more coordinated planning framework, accelerates permitting, and enhances investment to support a fully interconnected and future-proof European energy system.
The Cyprus Presidency has asked the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) to draw up an exploratory opinion aimed at analysing how affordable housing initiatives can integrate measures to reduce energy costs for families and support vulnerable households.
This opinion is prepared at the request of the incoming Cypriot Presidency of the EU. The EESC was invited to deliver an opinion on how the EU and its Member States can best:
1. Introduce and promote effective tools, including AI-based solutions, to enhance the quality of employment and working conditions, ensuring transparency, fairness, and accountability in their use.
2. Strengthen social dialogue and collective bargaining as fundamental mechanisms for shaping fair and inclusive labour markets in a rapidly changing economic and technological context.
Download — afdelingsadvies EESC: Enhancing quality in employment and working conditions by introducing and promoting related tools (incl. AI) and strengthening social dialogue and collective bargaining
The opinion examines the digital omnibus, a set of two legislative proposals which focuses on bringing regulatory simplification and immediate relief to businesses active on digital.
The EESC welcomes the 2025 Strategic Foresight Report: Resilience 2.0, while underlining that future reports should also address radical disruptions. The EESC is uniquely placed to detect weak signals and underlying trends in strategic foresight and therefore its foresight-driven viewpoint should continuously feed into the Commission’s policy cycle. The EESC also calls for common, verifiable EU-wide metrics for socio-economic and institutional resilience. In this regard, the EESC is of the view that strategic foresight should also support sustainable and inclusive well-being as part of the European social model.
The opinion deals with the 28th Regime legislative initiative whose purpose is to provide companies, especially innovative ones, with a single set of rules to invest more easily and operate in the Single Market.
Current legislation requires N2 vehicles to be equipped with speed‑limitation devices, a rule originally designed for heavy‑duty vehicles to ensure road safety and environmental protection. Electric vans, however, often fall into the N2 category solely due to their battery weight. The exemption aims to align electric vans with their fossil‑fuel equivalents and support the transition to cleaner transport.
This opinion explores the potential of the bioeconomy and how policies can ensure its long-term competitiveness and investment security, while safeguarding nature. It will present civil society's views on further goals which include increasing resource-efficient and circular use of biological resources, securing a sustainable supply of biomass, both within the EU and from international sources, and strengthening the EU’s position in the rapidly expanding global bioeconomy.
Growing resource use is driving the triple planetary crisis, pushing the EU beyond planetary boundaries and leaving many Member States off track for the 2030 circular material use target. Demand-side measures and ambitious primary material reduction policies are essential to reverse this trend and strengthen the EU’s strategic autonomy.
This exploratory opinion will feed into the work of the European Commission during the preparations of the Circular Economy Act.
