Vulnerable groups pay a proportionally higher price of the consequences of climate change although they contribute less to it. In this opinion, the EESC calls for the development of a comprehensive EU political and social strategy to be able to respond proactively to climate emergency, stressing on the social aspects of the just transition. To do so, the EESC recommends, among other measures, the EU Social Climate Fund and the EU Climate Adjustment Fund be supplemented with additional instruments.
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The Toy Safety Directive sets out the safety requirements that toys must meet before they can be marketed in the EU. This initiative aims to protect children better against risks in toys, particularly from chemicals. It builds on work such as the chemicals strategy for sustainability, and on an evaluation of the current toy safety rules completed in 2020. At the same time, it aims to strengthen the Single Market for toys.
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In this opinion, the EESC: encourages reforming EU health systems for mental health by focusing on prevention, early detection, and community-based care; recommends that the EU Comprehensive Plan on Mental Health is swiftly transposed in an EU Mental Health Strategy which has a timeframe, funding defined responsibilities and progress indicators. The EESC highlights the importance of considering the influence of socio-economic and environmental factors on mental health within the European Semester process and emphasizes the need for increased investments in the health sector as part of National Recovery and Resilience Plans; supports the development of person-centered mental health systems that empower individuals and promote their active involvement in their own recovery, aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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This exploratory opinion will be an opportunity to follow up on the EESC work on sustainable food systems, address the causes of obesity as the social determinant of health and provide recommendations for promoting healthier and sustainable diets, healthy lifestyle habits and protection of vulnerable children to feed into the work of the Spanish presidency.
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This opinion welcomes the Spanish Presidency's initiative of setting the goal to eliminate HIV related stigma and discrimination in Europe by 2030. It underlines that, in order to overcome stigma, discrimination and stereotypes, it essential to promote awareness-raising, training and information actions, involving organised civil society, youth and student organisations. The opinion also recommends a more ambitious new target for all countries to be achieved by 2030, improving coverage levels to as high as 95% for testing, treatment and virological suppression. Finally, it calls for new and innovative strategies to improve early diagnosis and make more people aware of their infection by expanding diversified and user-friendly approaches to more widely available HIV testing.
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The EESC welcomes the Commission Communication and the Commission proposal for a Recommendation on strengthening social dialogue in the European Union. The Committee is fully aligned with the view that social dialogue can be a beneficial tool to drive economic and social resilience, competitiveness, and sustainable and inclusive growth. Establishing a common effective framework, to be implemented at national level for the involvement of social partners, might help ensure that effective and quality consultations with national social partners take place.
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In this opinion, requested by the upcoming Spanish presidency of the EU, the EESC is exploring the consequences of precarious working conditions on the mental health of workers.
The Committee:
strongly upholds the evidence showing that precarious work increases the chances of worker´s mental health deteriorating and it is incompatible with the achievement of SDGs in the EU: it is a public health issue that has to be eradicated
stresses that combating work-related psychosocial risks at the source, using organisational interventions to reshape working conditions, is an essential first step in promoting mental health in the workplace as has highlighted by WHO and ILO
proposes adopting specific EU legislation on preventing psychosocial risk as well as developing and modernising the current directive on occupational safety and health
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The classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals regulation is the core piece of Union legislation for the hazard assessment of chemicals, stemming from the United Nations’ global standard (GHS), and sets out the hazard classification of chemicals and how to communicate those hazards to consumers and workers.
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