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
EESO je v nedavnem mnenju na lastno pobudo predlagal ustanovitev evropske agencije za odpravo pomanjkljivosti mehanizma EU na področju civilne zaščite, za katerega se zdi, da se ne more več odzivati na nesreče, povezane s podnebnimi spremembami, in na številne katastrofe, kot je sedanja vojna v Ukrajini.
EESO predlaga, da bi ta agencija dosledneje povezovala civilno zaščito in humanitarno pomoč ter utirala pot odločnejšim zunanjepolitičnim ukrepom.
Kljub temu, da je bil mehanizem EU na področju civilne zaščite maja 2021 okrepljen in pravno prilagojen, je vojna v Ukrajini pokazala, da ga je treba nujno izboljšati ter skladneje povezati civilno zaščito in humanitarno pomoč.
Christophe Quarez, poročevalec za mnenje o krepitvi mehanizma EU na področju civilne zaščite, je dejal: Pri vseh novih izzivih in zlasti ob vojni v Ukrajini menimo, da mehanizem nima dovolj orodij oziroma, da ta niso dovolj učinkovita. Namen predloga za ustanovitev evropske agencije za civilno zaščito in humanitarno pomoč je pomagati ukrajinskemu prebivalstvu in bolje reševati tudi druga vprašanja, povezana z nesrečami in humanitarnimi krizami.
Soporočevalka Violeta Jelić je dodala: Vse sodelujoče države morajo civilni zaščiti dati večje priznanje in ceniti to njeno delovanje, ki izhaja iz čiste solidarnosti in občutka pripadnosti.
EESO tudi meni, da diplomatska razsežnost evropske civilne zaščite ni dovolj razvita. Glede na to, da ima Evropska unija vodilno vlogo pri nudenju humanitarne pomoči sosednjim državam, lahko mehanizem civilne zaščite postane močno orodje v naboru orodij zunanje politike EU.
EESO je predlagal tudi zakonodajno spremembo za odobritev samodejnih in takojšnjih odzivov v okviru mehanizma v primeru nesreče ali krize, ki jo povzroči človek na ozemlju EU ali zunaj njega. (at)