The German Presidency should pave the way to a European recovery that invests in a care strategy
In the second half of 2020, Germany will assume the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The German Presidency comes at a time when the European Union is facing unprecedented challenges. While its programme and organisational possibilities are heavily impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, there is widespread demand and political energy to depart from business-as-usual modus operandi and embrace change.
The report highlights trends in Europe based on seven country visits that took place in 2018-2019 in Romania, Poland, Hungary, Austria, France, Bulgaria and Italy. It updates the interim report published in November 2019, integrates the main conclusions of the November 2019 conference on ‘Fundamental rights and the rule of law – Trends in the EU from a civil society perspective’, and annexes country reports and observations by the national authorities.
The corona crisis is a huge human and societal tragedy for Europeans and for people throughout the world. Tackling its diverse impacts requires a series of measures, from coping with the emergency stage and proceeding via recovery and rebuilding towards long-term success and stability. Businesses that manage to recover well and succeed are key to the recovery of the EU economy as a whole.
This compendium brings together all the opinions and reports which, over the last thirty years, have enabled the EESC and civil society organisations to strengthen participatory democracy and become an indispensable part of the European decision-making process.
The corona crisis is changing the global economy daily, with the results still being uncertain. The crisis has hit all sectors, from services to industries and agriculture. The most serious problems have been encountered by SMEs and micro-entrepreneurs who have had their businesses disappear and are in a very critical situation.
To limit the economic and social damage caused by this critical situation, a series of measures is needed, extending from coping with the emergency stage towards recovery and rebuilding.
The core mission of the EESC Sustainable Development Observatory (SDO) is to promote sustainability in the EU by advancing economic prosperity, social inclusiveness and environmental responsibility in an integrated and balanced way. Its members come from a wide range of interest groups, with expertise in all areas of our work and extensive outreach with civil society organisations across European Member States.
After the financial crisis, it became clear that the fragmented environment in the EU made it difficult to deal decisively and effectively with problems, particularly in the financial system. A common and cross-border approach became essential/were needed. The challenge was to make the financial institutions and markets more stable, competitive, safe and resilient. From that perspective, the plans for a fully-fledged banking union and a capital markets union were the right response.
This brochure presents the EESC's opinions on various aspects of the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing in the EU, providing an overview of policy developments and the views of civil society on the steps taken.
In this brochure, we have collected a series of opinions in which the EESC has reflected on the various policies that constitute the building blocks of the Banking Union as well as the remaining issues facing its completion.
