Europe’s energy system is increasingly unbalanced due to intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar, often relying on fossil fuels for stability. Achieving balance is key for energy reliability, climate goals, economic growth, and technological innovation. This opinion explores how Member States can integrate renewables while ensuring system stability and advancing decarbonisation, focusing on managing intermittent energy effectively.
In this exploratory opinion, requested by the European Commission, the EESC outlines priority actions and flagship initiatives for the 2025–2030 period. It urges the Commission to quickly develop its next action plan with meaningful consultation of persons with disabilities and their organisations and calls for stronger, more binding measures than those from 2021–2025, with direct impact and dedicated funding in the next Multiannual Financial Framework to ensure effective implementation and support.
Download — Avizul CESE: Regenerative agriculture as a target towards enhancing sustainable food production, supporting climate and biodiversity objectives
reaffirms its unwavering commitment to gender equality and women’s rights as fundamental pillars of democracy, social justice and inclusive growth and stands firmly alongside all the players striving to advance equality for all women and girls, in all their diversity;
endorses the Declaration of principles for a gender-equal society, which aligns closely with the values and priorities repeatedly expressed in EESC opinions;
recognises that the implementation of these principles requires coordinated and sustained action to which it is committed;
stands ready to contribute actively to the realisation of this roadmap and to work with the European institutions and Member States, to transform these principles into practice.
Ensuring the European healthcare sector is well-equipped to respond to cyber-attacks will be a top priority for the newly elected European Commission.
On 15 January 2025, the European Commission published a European action plan on the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers, COM(2025) 10 final.
The European Commission Communication on the "European action plan on the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers" aims to strengthen the security of our health systems and to improve the cybersecurity of hospitals and healthcare providers across the EU as healthcare systems increasingly become targets of cyber and ransomware attacks, in a comprehensive action plan.
This own-initiative opinion constitutes the contribution of the ECO section to the 2025 EESC transversal own-initiative opinion package on the cost-of-living crisis, looking at specific economic policy measures that can help make the European economy future-proof.
