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.
In this Opinion, the EESC welcomes the EU's focus on civil preparedness and stresses the need for a culture of resilience across all levels of society. It highlights civil society's specific role in crisis response and stresses that preparedness initiatives must aim to a just and sustainable peace, addressing the root causes of conflict and fostering equality and social progress. The EESC calls for full integration of civil society into preparedness efforts, increased investment in its capacities, clear role definitions, stronger democratic safeguards, and easier cross-border cooperation.
In view of Europe's current security challenges, in particular with the armed conflict caused by Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, defence funding places a significant burden on the budgets of many EU Member States, worsening their fiscal position.
At the same time, the resources that Member States are currently able to allocate to the development of defence capabilities still seem to be insufficient.
As Europe needs to develop defence capabilities in a more integrated way, there is a need to significantly increase investment in European defence infrastructure and technological innovation to improve preparedness to respond to threats.
The recommendations of this EESC own-initiative opinion focus on ensuring a more competitive and economically, environmentally and socially sustainable European maritime space to increase the global competitiveness of the EU shipping sector. This can be achieved through broader investment policies and legislative initiatives. The social partners and civil society must be actively involved in these efforts.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, health has become a central topic on the geopolitical stage. The EU Global Health Strategy, launched at the end of 2022, shows the political path forward, guiding the EU’s role in advancing health for all beyond 2023. This own-initiative opinion will examine four key dimensions: strategic autonomy in health; structural trends in health and related sectors; health coordination; and security, defence and the mitigation of major shocks.
Confronted with increasing instability, increased strategic competition and growing security threats, the EU committed to taking greater responsibility for its security and to taking further decisive action to build open European sovereignty, reduce its dependencies and develop a new growth and investment model for 2030 and beyond.
The European Commission has requested from the EESC an exploratory opinion on industrial and technological approaches and best practices supporting a water resilient society. Building on EESC's previous work on the EU Blue Deal, this exploratory opinion aims to make concrete recommendations on how to boost the development and uptake of new water technologies and best practices in the EU and support notably industries in the transformation towards a water-resilient society, taking into account sectoral constraints.
Download — Opinia EKES-u: Industrial and technological approaches and best practices supporting a water resilient society
EDIS is a joint communication of the Commission and the High Representative that sets a vision for the European defence industrial policy until 2035.
The EESC welcomes this Commission initiative and the CCMI study group members will examine how the European Defence Industrial Strategy can strengthen the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) and achieve defence industrial readiness. Furthermore, this opinion will assess the necessary steps for the successful implementation of this strategy.
Download — Opinia EKES-u: European defence industrial strategy
The European Defence Investment Programme (EDIP) regulation will serve as the anchor for future joint development and procurement projects of high common interest to the security of the Member States and the Union.
Download — Opinia EKES-u: European defence industry programme
The EC Communication with title "Towards a more resilient, competitive and sustainable Europe" summarises what has been achieved to promote and build a more resilient, competitive and sustainable economy, protect EU citizens and guarantee their well-being.
In its opinion, the EESC wishes to put forward its views on the Communication, adopted in connection with the Granada summit, so that its position can be taken into account during preparations for the next European legislative mandate. Given the range of issues addressed in the Communication, the opinion is focussing on four key sectors for the future of European strategic autonomy: the energy sector, the digital sector, the defence sector and the space sector. In its opinion, the EESC makes concrete proposals to highlight the need for a European economic and political power.
Download — Opinia EKES-u: Towards a more resilient, competitive and sustainable Europe
The purpose of the opinion is to contribute to the further development of foresight in EU's policy-making. The opinion provides the EESC's views on the Commission's 2023 Annual foresight Report, which focused on the sustainability and people's wellbeing at the heart of Europe's Open Strategic Autonomy, as well as recommendations on how to strengthen the Strategic Foresight Agenda.
The opinion will provide few but meaningful and concrete recommendations, reflecting the contributions made in the sections' and CCMI own-initiative opinions addressing the Blue Deal from their respective perspectives.
Download — Opinia EKES-u: Umbrella Opinion "A call for an EU Blue Deal"
The European Commission presented its Critical Raw Materials Act in the beginning of March. The package of legislative and non-legislative measures is aimed at diversifying the supply of the materials needed to achieve the green and digital transition.
Download — Opinia EKES-u: Critical Raw Materials Act
The objective of the own-initiative opinion is to provide EESC's input into the discussions and future actions in regard to emergency preparedness, especially focusing on the impact on businesses.
The future French presidency of the EU has included this file among its main priorities in this area.
At the heart of European cooperation in the field of civil security is the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (MPCU), a mutual aid and solidarity instrument created in 2001 which has been adapted and strengthened over the years in reaction to crises.
Download — Opinia EKES-u: Consolidating the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in order to improve the EU's capacity to react in the face of extreme events, including those occurring outside its territory
