EESC mid-term renewal: Members of the Civil Society Organisations' Group take up new positions

During the inaugural session of the second half of the EESC's 2020-2025 term of office on 25 and 26 April, the EESC plenary appointed members of the Civil Society Organisations' Group to several leadership positions. Krzysztof Pater is the new Vice-President in charge of Budget at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). Ioannis Vardakastanis takes over the presidency of the Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO), while Baiba Miltoviča and Panagiotis Gkofas both remain in their positions as president of the Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN) and one of the Committee's Quaestors respectively.

Elena-Alexandra Calistru was appointed vice-president of the Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO) for the first time. Alain Coheur will take over the vice-presidency of the Section for the Single Market, Production and Consumption (INT) and John Comer will again be vice-president of the Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN). Ariane Rodert will serve as vice-president of the Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship (SOC) for another two and half years. Cillian Lohan will take up the position of vice-president of the Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment (NAT), while Ionuţ Sibian remains the vice-president of the Section for External Relations (REX). Giuseppe Guerini continues to be a member of the bureau of the Committee's Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (known by its French acronym CCMI, Commission consultative des mutations industrielles).

Unlike EESC members, who are elected for a five-year term of office, the presidencies of the EESC, its sections and other permanent and temporary bodies are elected for a period of two and a half years, in rotation between the three groups which make up the EESC. New presidencies usually start with the EESC renewal and at the mid-term renewal. The second half of the EESC's 2020-2025 term of office started on 26 April 2023. The new presidencies will consequently last until October 2025.

Positions to be held by Civil Society Organisations' Group members during the 2023-2025 term:

Krzysztof Pater – EESC Vice-President in charge of Budget

Ioannis Vardakastanis – President of the ECO Section

Baiba Miltoviča – President of the TEN Section

Panagiotis Gkofas – Quaestor

Luca Jahier – President of the Ad Hoc Group on the European Semester

Louise Grabo – President of the Digital Transition and Single Market Observatory

Elena-Alexandra Calistru – Vice-President of the ECO Section

Alain Coheur – Vice-President of the INT Section

Cillian Lohan – Vice-President of the NAT Section

Ionuţ Sibian – Vice-President of the REX Section

Ariane Rodert – Vice-President of the SOC Section

John Comer – Vice-President of the TEN Section

Giuseppe Guerini – Member of the CCMI bureau

Kinga Joó – Vice-President of the Labour Market Observatory

Arnaud Schwartz – Vice-President of the Sustainable Development Observatory

Cristian Pîrvulescu – President of the Thematic Study Group on Immigration and Integration

Ákos Topolánszky – President of the Thematic Study Group on Roma Inclusion

Juraj Sipko – President of the Thematic Study Group on Economic and Fiscal Governance of the Euro Area

Simo Tiainen – President of the EU-Armenia Civil Society Platform

Anastasis Yiapanis – President of the EU-Serbia Joint Consultative Committee

Juraj Sipko – President of the International Trade Follow-up Committee

John Comer – President of the EU-Chile Joint Consultative Committee

Josiane Willems – President of the EU-ACP Follow-up Committee

Krzysztof Pater – President of the EU-Japan Follow-up Committee

Cillian Lohan (IE) – President of the EU-UK Follow-up Committee

Background information:

The EESC is made up of 329 members from all 27 Members States. Nominated by their national governments, they are appointed by the Council of the European Union for a period of five years. They then work independently in the interests of all EU citizens. Members are not politicians but employers, trade unionists and representatives of various activities such as farming, consumer and environmental organisations, the social economy, SMEs, the liberal professions and associations representing persons with disabilities, the voluntary sector, gender equality, youth, academia, etc.

For the 2020-2025 term of office the Civil Society Organisations' Group is composed of 106 members, who include a wide range of representatives and stakeholders from the economic, civic, professional and cultural fields.

For more information on EESC bodies visit the EESC webpage.