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.
Here you can find news and information about the EESC'swork, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
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.
Homelessness is the fourth most common reason given for poverty in the EU. It causes major personal tragedies, and also has significant social implications. If the number of homeless people was reduced, social costs would also decrease, and with better social inclusion Europe would progress. The right to housing is enshrined in many countries' constitutions. Still, there is no single and consistent method of collecting data on homelessness and the social integration of homeless people remains a very complex and difficult process. This EESC opinion, which focuses on both the effects and the causes of this problem, proposes measures to address it.
This year the UNCSW, the UN’s top annual meeting on gender equality, will focus on ending women’s poverty. During its inaugural participation in the event, the EESC will contribute to the theme with a declaration comprising ten action points for the economic empowerment and social protection of women
Amid a projected rise in the number of people at risk of poverty, adequate minimum income is a necessary condition to ensure a dignified life for many Europeans. To make sure it is available to all those who need it, Member States should put in place transparent and non-discriminatory criteria for people to obtain it.
Poverty must always be combated in the EU and in the rest of the world. This is all the more important as the cost of living has increased significantly since the onset of the war in Ukraine. While civil society organisations provide important solutions to tackle the effects of poverty, it is clear that future policy measures must be poverty-proof. These are the conclusions of a discussion organised by the Civil Society Organisations' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 22 March 2023. The event was attended by high-level guest speakers, including Italy's Minister for Labour and Social Policies, Marina Elvira Calderone.
As the number of EU households unable to warm their homes is likely to grow and with energy annual inflation hitting over 40%, the EU and the Member States should adopt and implement urgent measures to prevent and tackle energy poverty threatening Europeans
Drastically improving the energy efficiency of Europe's buildings, increasing the use of renewables and educating consumers on energy savings are among the main prerequisites for reducing the number of energy poor in the EU in the long term.