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.
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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.
The role of the EU-Turkey Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) created by the EESC in 1995 is to promote interaction between the economic and social actors of organised civil society in the EU and Turkey.
The 31st meeting of the EU-Turkey Joint Consultative Committee is organised in Ankara on 20-21st December 2012. Staffan Nilsson is attending this meeting, together with Egemen Bagis, Turkish Minister for EU Affairs.
31ST Meeting of EU-Turkey Joint Consultative Committee
The Joint Consultative Committees must be tools for communication, for disseminating information, and for giving reality to the concept of participatory democracy. Holding this JCC meeting in Berlin provides us with an excellent opportunity to use this joint body as a tool for exchanging ideas with a broad audience.
Staffan Nilsson's Keynote speech during the Seminar: Communicating Turkey at the EU-Turkey JCC meeting
The three topics chosen for this Joint Consultative Committee are certainly very appropriate.
- Building a low-carbon economy is a key issue in the EU at the moment.
- Secondly, the benefit that Turkey's accession would have on EU economy is also an expert debate that I am pretty much looking forward to listening to. T
- Last but certainly not least, the visa issue. I am very concerned that the visa issue has not moved forward between the EU and Turkish authorities.
Speech at the EU-Turkey Joint Consultative Committee in Istanbul