Comitetul Economic si Social European
The study provides an overview of the extent to which a selection of national post-COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience Plans have adopted the principles of wellbeing economy and sustainable development. A key focus of the report is assessing the extent to which representatives of civil society have contributed to the plans and on their envisaged future role in the implementation of the planned reforms and investments.
Since it was set up in 1991, the Consumers and Environment Category of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has had the same objectives, namely to ensure that all EESC opinions take into account the interests of consumer and environmental associations, to enhance dialogue with consumers and environmental campaigners, and to promote opinions that link consumer and environmental issues.
Following the publication of the European Commission's Update to the New Industrial Strategy, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has been carrying out a series of activities to fulfil its role of representing the views of organised civil society. A first event in this process has been a conference held on 17 June 2021, from 2.30 to 6 p.m., on Updated industrial strategy: towards a more resilient and strategically autonomous EU industry?
The present catalogue of good practices is a collection of numerous successful initiatives implemented by civil society organisations in Europe in response to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The information set out in this catalogue was brought together in the framework of the study "The response of civil society organisations to face the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent restrictive measures adopted in Europe", commissioned by the European Economic and Social Committee at the request of the Diversity Europe Group.
As the COVID-19 pandemic hits societies and economies, bringing a global and unprecedented public health and social crisis, civil society organisations (CSOs) are responding by providing frontline help and defending the rights of people across the world. At the same time, CSOs have faced themselves profound impacts that may harm their capacities to continue playing their central roles in delivering services, advocating for rights and protecting the most fragile, while safeguarding participatory democracy and civic debate in the near future.
This study aims to set a framework for the legal recognition of the Rights of Nature in the EU legal order, as a prerequisite for a different and improved relationship between human beings and Nature. This aim should be possibly accomplished through the development of a EU Charter on Fundamental Rights of Nature.
The use of single-use plastics in packaging has grown significantly in the last decades, and with it, the pollution of our environment. There is an urgent need to improve the sustainability of our food systems, which includes also the development of more sustainable food packaging. The objective of this study is to identify and examine successful examples and approaches to food packaging in the EU and beyond, considering consumer safety, environmental, economic, social, legal and food waste reduction considerations.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has been advocating for organised civil society and citizens at global, national and subnational levels to be fully involved in the development, review and, above all, implementation of the Paris Agreement. With the general framework agreed at the COP21 in Paris, it is now also the role of non-state actors, including civil society, to work together to implement it. Multi-level and multi-stakeholder climate governance is the strong focus of our work in 2017 and beyond.
The "Smart Cities" project is a follow-up to the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) own-initiative opinion on smart cities as a driver of a new European industrial policy, adopted in July 2015.
The EESC "Smart Islands" project is based on the own-initiative of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on Smart islands TEN/558.
