There is a global increase in demand for bioenergy. This is a positive development if managed sustainably. It can contribute to several policy objectives such as agricultural and rural development, climate change mitigation and better energy access and security [...]
The opinion aim to look into options for promoting sustainable production of "food and fuel", and particularly how civil society can contribute. What does the EU biofuel policy mean for European and global food security? What regulatory frameworks are necessary to make it sustainable? What support for implementation is needed? How can the competition of land-use be better managed?
The EESC supports the Action Plan for a Maritime Strategy in the Atlantic area, which sets out priorities for research and investment in the region and provides considerable European added value in terms of boosting blue growth under the Europe 2020 strategy. Cooperation will develop within this strategic framework between authorities and social and economic operators in the Atlantic regions of the five Member States concerned: Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Portugal.
Download — Action Plan for a Maritime Strategy in the Atlantic area
In the referral letter for this exploratory opinion the Commission makes the link between Sustainable development goals (SDGs), inclusive green economy and poverty eradication and asks to explore how, in a future framework of universally applicable SDGs, the economic, environmental and social dimension might be successfully integrated.
Download — Establishing Sustainable Development Goals
A coherent Industrial Policy requires far better governance – the EESC position. The EESC welcomes very much the focused attention to Europe's industry, as expressed in the Commission's update on Industrial policy of October 2012. The present opinion insists on a change of mind-set in the Member States (MS) and the EU Council. It stresses the need of coherent decision-making on a wide variety of issues, and effective governance at EU level. Only then industrial policy can become a building block of an EU Growth Initiative of which there is still little effective action.
This exploratory opinion, requested by the Lithuanian presidency, sheds light on the specific contribution that State-owned enterprises can make to the EU's competitiveness. It pinpoints the specific challenges that exist in this area for EU policy and the European institutions. As part of its consideration of the way in which public undertakings could contribute more to the EU's economic recovery and competitiveness, the Committee has addressed the issue of Europe's Services of General Economic Interest in a number of opinions. The EESC also raises the question of the economic activities of the EU's executive agencies, wondering if they are truly independent, while their tasks and responsibilities lead them to be directly involved in socio-economic activities.
Download — EESC opinion: Economic potential of EU - State-owned enterprises
