The Committee welcomes the increased attention brought to social investment, a greater targeting of European funds to sound employment and social policies, a dedicated youth employment initiative and youth guarantee scheme, and better cross-border mobility. It also welcomes the foreseen strengthened social dialogue as part of the European Semester process. It particularly supports the idea to step up closer surveillance of employment and social imbalances within the EMU through a systematic monitoring of rates of unemployment, of young people not in employment or training or education, of household income, poverty and inequality. The proposed scoreboard should pro-actively detect asymmetric developments and spill-over into overall economic performance and trigger a timely and effective adjustment mechanism and policy response.
Download — EESC opinion: The social dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union
There is a global increase in demand for bioenergy. This is a positive development if managed sustainably. It can contribute to several policy objectives such as agricultural and rural development, climate change mitigation and better energy access and security [...]
The opinion aim to look into options for promoting sustainable production of "food and fuel", and particularly how civil society can contribute. What does the EU biofuel policy mean for European and global food security? What regulatory frameworks are necessary to make it sustainable? What support for implementation is needed? How can the competition of land-use be better managed?
To address the issue of energy poverty, the EESC calls for a European energy security and solidarity commitment within the framework of a European energy community which would drive forward a truly European policy and aim to: protect individuals and prevent their social exclusion; take action to reduce the factors of structural vulnerability; and encourage everyone to assume responsibility for using sustainable and renewable energy resources.
Download — EESC opinion: For coordinated European measures to prevent and combat energy poverty
The EESC supports the Action Plan for a Maritime Strategy in the Atlantic area, which sets out priorities for research and investment in the region and provides considerable European added value in terms of boosting blue growth under the Europe 2020 strategy. Cooperation will develop within this strategic framework between authorities and social and economic operators in the Atlantic regions of the five Member States concerned: Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Portugal.
Download — Action Plan for a Maritime Strategy in the Atlantic area
In the referral letter for this exploratory opinion the Commission makes the link between Sustainable development goals (SDGs), inclusive green economy and poverty eradication and asks to explore how, in a future framework of universally applicable SDGs, the economic, environmental and social dimension might be successfully integrated.
Download — Establishing Sustainable Development Goals
A coherent Industrial Policy requires far better governance – the EESC position. The EESC welcomes very much the focused attention to Europe's industry, as expressed in the Commission's update on Industrial policy of October 2012. The present opinion insists on a change of mind-set in the Member States (MS) and the EU Council. It stresses the need of coherent decision-making on a wide variety of issues, and effective governance at EU level. Only then industrial policy can become a building block of an EU Growth Initiative of which there is still little effective action.
