European Economic
and Social Committee
European Economic
and Social Committee
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is the voice of organised civil society in Europe.
Find out more about its role and structure at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/about
The EESC issues between 160 and 190 opinions, evaluation 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.
Find the latest EESC opinions and publications at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-reports/opinions and http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/publications-other-work/publications respectively.
The EESC is active in a wide range of areas, from social affairs to economy, energy and sustainability.
Learn more about our policy areas and policy highlights at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/policies
The EESC holds nine plenary sessions per year. It also organises many conferences, public hearings and high-level debates related to its work.
Find out more about our upcoming events at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/agenda/our-events/upcoming-events
Here you can find news and information about the EESC'swork, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
Read the latest EESC news http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/news and press releases http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/press-releases
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.
Find out more about our Members and groups at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/members-groups
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.
Find out more at http://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/sections-other-bodies
V Evropi je zaradi vse večjih varnostnih groženj nujna enotna strategija financiranja obrambe. EESO je na zaprosilo poljskega predsedstva EU pripravil mnenje, v katerem poziva k odločnim ukrepom – večjim naložbam v sodobne sisteme, poglobljenemu sodelovanju z Natom in povečanju financiranja v finančnem okviru EU.
Ob vse večjih varnostnih tveganjih se je pokazalo, da je Evropa na področju obrambe odvisna od zunanjih dobaviteljev, saj je bilo 78 % od 75 milijard EUR, ki so jih države EU v enem letu porabile za javna naročila na področju obrambe, namenjenih dobaviteljem iz tretjih držav. Za zmanjšanje te odvisnosti je ključno okrepiti evropsko obrambno tehnološko-industrijsko bazo.
„Mehanizme financiranja obrambe v EU je treba prenoviti, da bomo kos sodobnim izzivom“, pojasnjuje Marcin Nowacki, poročevalec za mnenje EESO Financiranje obrambe v EU. „Obstoječa proračunska pravila omejujejo porabo za vojaške namene. Pobude, kot sta Evropski obrambni sklad in evropski mirovni instrument, sicer pomenijo napredek, vendar niso dovolj za odziv na tako velike grožnje, s katerimi se trenutno soočamo.“
Da bi poskrbeli za interoperbilnost in enotno strategijo, je bistveno sodelovanje z Natom. S skupnimi javnimi naročili, partnerstvi na področju kibernetske in vesoljske varnosti ter satelitskim projektom IRIS2 bomo povečali odpornost. Financiranje obrambe mora biti usklajeno s širšimi prednostnimi nalogami EU, pri tem pa ne smejo biti ogroženi socialni in okoljski cilji. Strateške naložbe, inovacije in dolgoročno načrtovanje so ključnega pomena za zagotavljanje varnosti in avtonomije Evrope. (tk)