The EESC issues between 160 and 190 opinions and information reports a year.
It also organises several annual initiatives and events with a focus on civil society and citizens’ participation such as the Civil Society Prize, the Civil Society Days, the Your Europe, Your Say youth plenary and the ECI Day.
Here you can find news and information about the EESC'swork, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
The EESC brings together representatives from all areas of organised civil society, who give their independent advice on EU policies and legislation. The EESC's326 Members are organised into three groups: Employers, Workers and Various Interests.
The EESC has six sections, specialising in concrete topics of relevance to the citizens of the European Union, ranging from social to economic affairs, energy, environment, external relations or the internal market.
On 23 March, the European Economic and Social Committee adopted two opinions on the Commission's latest proposals to further develop the EU's Capital Markets Union. Regarding the Listing Act, the Committee recommends that the full listing documentation be published in the national languages to empower local retail investors and helpthe development of a national retail investment base.
The EESC underlines that increased equity funding for European companies is key and therefore strongly welcomes the Listing Act proposed by the Commission;
believes that bringing family-owned companies to capital markets would open up untapped potential to attract capital for growth, and a multiple-voting rights regime helps families to retain control, making listing more attractive to them;
estimates that the publication of a full-scale document, and not only the summary, in national languages would empower local retail investors. Using "English-only" issuance documents would hinder the development of a national retail investment base.
The EESC expected a clearer stance on reducing exposure to UK central counterparties (CCPs) and more specific rules and incentives after Brexit;
asks the Commission to explain the specific definition of the term "urgently", and for the co-legislators to establish which exemptions are considered "urgent" decisions;
proposes that civil society be involved in the monitoring mechanism established under Article 23c, and that the EESC takes part in the Joint Monitoring Mechanism as an observer.
The European Economic and Social Committee backs increased regulation of crypto-assets, with robust, coherent rules to better protect investors across the EU in line with current measures applied to traditional financial services.
In an opinion adopted during its March plenary, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) welcomed the European Commission (EC) proposal to implement the remaining elements of the Basel III international standards in the EU. The aim is to strengthen the resilience of the banking sector while ensuring that it continues to finance economic activity and growth. But the EESC also calls on the EC to find a proper balance between faithful implementation, and the need to reflect the specificities of the EU economy and banks.
Just before the summer break, Commissioner Mairead McGuinness joined an extraordinary meeting of the Diversity Europe Group of the EESC to debate the role of finance and banking in Europe's recovery.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) welcomes the Commission's new Action Plan on non-performing loans, but believes that it lacks new proposals fit for COVID-19 times, leaving Europe to face an extraordinary time with rules written for ordinary times.