The EESC welcomes and supports the Commission's initiative to anticipate the review of the Regulations on European venture capital funds (EuVECA) and European social entrepreneurship funds (EuSEF). The EESC believes that such a regulation can promote the establishment of a capital markets union. The EESC suggests that in order to expand participation in such investment funds, the hitherto very restrictive access criteria, as well as other restrictive conditions, to be significantly relaxed; the Committee proposes to increase the involvement of non-institutional investors and considers it equally important to create an environment in which the financing objectives of social investment funds can develop.
Download — Avizul CESE: Regulation amending the European Venture Capital Fund (EuVECA) and European Social Entrepreneurship (EuSEF) Fund regulations
Development responses to forced displacement should be tailored for each geographic region, whilst ensuring joined-up action across the European Commission and other institutions. While a development-led approach can produce considerable results with the current budget, the need for extra resources should not be ruled out. Civil society, end users, development partners and NGOs should be involved in the delivery and in making the Commission's Communication operational. Social and civil dialogue structures and processes should be enhanced and improved in partner and host countries to assist with its delivery. Entrepreneurship in the affected regions should be supported and developed as a viable development path for many forcibly displaced people. Education and training responses should be based on a lifelong learning approach. The possibility of making EU programmes available to forcibly displaced people should be considered.
Download — Avizul CESE: Lives in Dignity: from Aid-dependence to Self-reliance
"Nudges" are small, cheap, easily implemented solutions drawing from behavioural sciences to help people modify their individual behaviours. They consist in inducing towards the most reasonable or responsible option, without forbidding anything, through soft cognitive signals in a wide range of fields, including sustainability. This opinion looks at how to encourage nudging approaches at the European level.
Download — Avizul CESE: Towards applying Nudge Thinking to EU Policies (own-initiative opinion)
In this opinion, the EESC calls for society to begin an economic transition from over-exploitation of resources and a throw-away culture to a more sustainable, job-rich era, based on quality rather than quantity. In order to cope with the fundamental shift to a new economic model with major systemic consequences in many areas, it is recommended that a new cross-cutting and permanent body be set up in the EESC to analyse these developments.
Download — Avizul CESE: The functional economy (own-initiative opinion)
Europe has always played a key role in the innovation and development of personal care, body hygiene and beauty products. However its leading position has progressively been eroded in the process of global competition. While the innovative capacity of Europe’s specialised enterprises is very impressive, the production and commercialisation of European inventions have shifted to other parts of the world with serious economic and social consequences for Europe in terms of benefits, labour opportunities and incentives for research and development. To strengthen this particular branch of industry by appropriate strategies will lead to a major contribution to industrial reshoring and industrial development.
Download — EESC opinion: Strengthening European personal care, hygiene and cosmetic products industries
The 2030 Agenda represents a breakthrough in multilateral cooperation, in the sense that it puts social and human development on a par with economic progress, and sees these three dimensions as a whole. Whereas the MDGs (Millennium Development goals) addressed primarily developing countries, this new Agenda is a transformational and universal agenda for all countries, and promotes a new, inclusive and participatory method of decision-making. The EU showed significant leadership in the process leading up to the adoption of the new SDGs (Sustainable Development Goasl). The opinion stresses that the EU needs to hold up its credibility both internally and externally, when it comes to implementing the Agenda and its 17 goals. Pointing to the universal and indivisible nature of the Agenda, the opinion underlines the importance of an EU response at the highest level, providing a robust base on which an overarching EU strategy should be founded.
Download — Avizul CESE: The 2030 Agenda – A European Union committed to support sustainable development goals globally (own-initiative opinion)
Alarming political decisions have shown that the EU lacks adequate instruments to safeguard fundamental values and the rule of law. A new European mechanism on the rule of law and fundamental rights is needed. The mechanism should include a regular assessment of Member States in a governance "policy coordination cycle", similar to the European Semester. The EESC should play an active role, as this will make for strong civil society involvement. The mechanism must be based on indicators, taking into account the indivisibility of fundamental economic, social and cultural rights and civil and political rights.
Download — Avizul CESE: European control mechanism on the rule of law and fundamental rights (own-initiative opinion)
The CPC Regulation harmonises the cooperation framework between national authorities in the EU so that their enforcement action can cover the full dimension of the Single Market. The primary aim of the CPC Regulation is to ensure legal certainty in the Single Market via coherent enforcement of key Union consumer acquis. The EESC supports this proposal, considering it to be timely and its content to be well-argued and developed by applying the proposal to all stakeholders - consumers, businesses and national authorities and calling on the Commission to launch the coordination with the Member States needed to implement the measures and to extend the scope of the coordinated actions.
Download — Avizul CESE: Concluding observations of the UN CRPD Committee to the European Union – A new strategy for persons with disabilities in the European Union (own-initiative opinion)
