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.
Le CESE trouve les conclusions de la Commission relatives aux effets de la directive sur les services et au fonctionnement du secteur des services prématurées. La directive n'est en vigueur que depuis quelques années. Le fait que tous les États membres ne sont pas également satisfaits de la directive et qu'ils doivent la mettre en œuvre différemment dans leur propre législation sont des facteurs complexes qui ne sont pas repris dans la Communication. Le secteur des services est vaste et compliqué et se compose de plusieurs branches. Il faudra du temps pour rationaliser le marché intérieur des services au moyen de la réglementation européenne.
De acordo com o novo estudo encomendado pelo Comité Económico e Social Europeu, os serviços transfronteiriços criam novos postos de trabalho e crescimento económico, sendo positivos para todos os países da UE e para diferentes tipos de postos de trabalho – tanto os de utilização intensiva de mão de obra como os de utilização intensiva de conhecimentos. O referido documento demonstra que é benéfico para a economia da UE evitar uma regulamentação estrita do mercado interno dos serviços transfronteiriços. Uma redução de 1% da parte correspondente aos serviços transfronteiriços custaria à economia da UE cerca de 8 mil milhões de euros.
The EESC held the fourth of its Going Local meetings on the live-in care sector in the EU, this time in Poland. The country provides much of the sector's workforce in western EU Member States, but has itself started to face a serious shortage of qualified carers in recent years
The Employers' Group did not support the EESC opinion on driving and rest time periods, working time and posting of workers (TEN/637). For the Group, the opinion did not sufficiently reflect differences of views in the Committee concerning the Commission's proposal on the posting of workers.
The Commission's proposal on industrial policy is a step in the right direction, but the EU needs a long term, comprehensive strategy: this is one of the conclusions of the debate at the Employers' Group meeting on 6 December 2017. The aim of the debate was to contribute to two opinions on industrial policy that the EESC is currently working on.
The European Commission is proposing to revise the so-called Posting of Workers Directive from 1996, which affects some 2 million workers in the EU. Posted workers are employed in one Member State, but sent to work temporarily in another country by their employer. The general view of the EESC Employers' Group is that the existing EU legislation on the posting of workers - namely the original 1996 Posting Directive and the 2014 Enforcement Directive which aims to strengthen the practical implementation of the Posting Directive - strikes a proper and fair balance between supporting the cross-border provision of services and protecting the rights of posted workers. It also ensures a level playing field between foreign and local competitors.