Comité Económico e Social Europeu
The results are in. After an impressive 428 applications to take part in Your Europe, Your Say! (YEYS) 2016, 33 schools from 28 EU Member States and five candidate countries have been selected to take part. We are thrilled that so many young people have expressed interest in this exciting event, and we can’t wait to meet the winning schools and students in March.
A delegation from the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) was in Austria from 15 to 16 December to learn about the work of various civil society organisations helping to deal with the influx of refugees.
The document on a new agenda on EU migration published by the Commission should be considered as one of the most important documents of recent EU history regarding the establishment of a minimum common migration policy, for economic as well as for international protection reasons.
A civil society delegation from the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) today began a series of 12 country visits with a three day visit to Greece in order to hear first-hand from civil society organisations working on the ground with the migration and refugee situation. The delegation will gather information in order to inform possible coping strategies for the influx of refugees and to establish a set of best practices and policies which can contribute to a seamless process of reception, relocation or integration of refugees.
Europe needs a truly common European asylum system with harmonised procedures throughout Europe. In the current complex situation, Europe needs to secure its borders in a European rather than a national effort while at the same time assisting asylum seekers outside the EU. Moreover, it has to put in place an effective immigration policy which is transparent, clearly outlining who will have a chance to immigrate and welcoming those newcomers by supporting their start in the respective EU Member State.
At its plenary session of 9 and 10 December 2015 (meeting of 10 December), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted this resolution by 174 to 8 with 9 abstentions.
