The Committee recommends the Commission to bring forward a comprehensive new package of measures to incentivise the massive new investment needed to deliver these new targets. The package should include a strengthening of the ETS as a cost optimising instrument for guiding investment decisions as well as other measures to: 1) promote energy efficiency in all sectors; 2) increase consumer awareness and capacity to use their purchasing power to favour low carbon goods and services; 3) support investment in the infrastructure that will be needed; 4) promote training and capacity-building in the key sectors.
It agrees with the Commission that the EU 2020 Strategy must pave the way for longer-term goals from now until 2050 and beyond. It wonders, however, why the Commission is coupling this flagship initiative with the EU 2020 Strategy, rather than putting it forward as a concrete expression of the sustainable development strategy, which would make much more sense.
Download — EESC Opinion: Resource efficient Europe
The revised SBA for Europe marks a decisive new stage in the political recognition of SMEs and above all of micro-enterprises. This EESC opinion recommends that the European institutions, Member States and the regions adopt it as the basis for their SMEs policies as well as for their economic and industrial policies. It insists on recognising the SBA's "Think Small First" principle when drafting legislation for SMEs. The EESC notes that the SBA will not succeed unless a genuine "multi-stakeholder and multilevel governance partnership" is established where economic and social partners and all representative public and private stakeholders are involved in political discussions concerning SMEs.
Download — EESC opinion: Review of the "Small Business Act"
The opinion examines what has become a key sector in the Euromed region. The uprisings in the Euromed region, besides putting the spotlight on the abuses of autocratic dictators, have also drawn attention to the urgent need for economic and social development, especially in rural areas. Food insecurity and high food prices are set to remain a problem in the region.
Download — Rural development and employment in the Euromed region
The Commission's communication sets out a strategy for the implementation of the charter in the new legal environment created by the Lisbon Treaty. The charter must serve as a compass for the Union's policies and their implementation by the Member States. The EESC finds that the Commission should strengthen the culture of fundamental rights at all government levels and across all policy and legislative domains level. It is as well urgent to establish a strategy for monitoring and for rapid reaction.
Download — EESC opinion: Strategy for the effective implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights by the European Union
The Commission communication represents a fundamental policy instrument for people with disabilities. The EESC welcomes the European Disability Strategy, as an active policy instrument to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The EESC believes that the UN Convention sets a clear framework that allows people with disabilities to contribute to the realisation of their potential, and calls for the EU to take the next and equally important steps of ratifying the Optional Protocol and of ensuring that existing and future secondary legislation respect the Convention.
Download — EESC opinion: European Disability Strategy 2010-2020
