The objective of the own-initiative opinion is to analyse the state of affairs of civil society in Russia and to elaborate recommendations on how the EU and EU civil society organization can contribute for improving the working conditions for civil society organizations in Russia and for the strengthening of genuine civil and social dialogue.
The EESC proposes to reduce and standardise the range of different taxes, extend tax bases, align tax rates more closely, and strengthen cooperation and information exchange mechanisms in order to combat fraud and evasion.
Tax should be captured where the economic substance is located. Feeding into the current political discussion, the EESC equally calls to urgently eliminate practices used in the Member States to grant selected corporations special tax privileges. The Committee wants to involve citizens in combating the black economy, tax evasion and tax fraud by encouraging instruments such as service vouchers and forms of electronic payment that leave a trace.
In order to maximise the benefits offered by wood products in the carbon balance and to enhance the competitiveness of the European woodworking industry and its capacity to drive innovation, the European Economic and Social Committee has drawn up the following recommendations...
Download — Contribution of the woodworking sector in the carbon balance
Europe 2020 and Horizon 2020 goals will not be reached without stronger input from female scientists. Today, only 20% of all professors and just 10% of university vice-chancellors are women. This issue is constantly raised by both civil society and EU institutions, yet there is a lack of focus on this topic. The opinion aims to analyse the reasons for the gender gap in science (especially in STEM fields) and tackle the main obstacles to gender equality in science. It will provide a thorough analysis of the education and science sectors in the EU in relation to gender and make recommendations to ensure the appropriate talent allocation, which will increase Europe’s talent pool, promote employability and innovation and benefit the economy.
