The EESC issues between 160 and 190 opinions 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.
Here you can find news and information about the EESC'swork, including its social media accounts, the EESC Info newsletter, photo galleries and videos.
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.
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.
Statement of the President of the Employers' Group
On 20 February 2019 the EESC adopted an opinion calling for an EU framework directive on minimum income. The Employers' Group fully shares the view of the EESC that fighting against poverty is a necessity. However, for us the instrument proposed in the opinion is not the correct one. For this reason, the Group tabled a counter-opinion, presenting its views on measures needed to reduce poverty. The counter opinion was supported by almost 40% of the EESC Members.
The Diversity Europe Group recently organised a structured brainstorming session aiming at encouraging its Members to think out of the box and to come up with ideas to feed into proposals for the Sibiu Summit on the Future of Europe. This session kick-started our Group's contribution to the EESC Roadmap 'From Cracow to Sibiu and beyond'.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has used an own-initiative opinion to call for sufficient funding resources to be put in place for implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights. Adopted at its plenary session on 19 April 2018, the opinion calls for improvements in the Member States and a robust commitment in terms of budget, investment and current spending to make the Social Pillar a reality.
The EESC presents measures to avoid the severity of austerity in the future and to mitigate the negative effects of previous crisis management
Future crisis management should strive for a better balance between fiscal and social objectives to avoid adverse effects on the economic capacities, labour markets and social protection systems of the countries concerned. Instead of restrictive austerity, the EU institutions should in future crisis situations implement policies in pursuit of economic cooperation, growth and solidarity.
Politicians and civil society must act, says the EESC
The United Nations and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) presented the film Sold – a film about human trafficking by Jeffrey D. Brown - at Brussels' Centre for Fine Arts BOZAR on 10 January 2017. Opening the screening, together with Deborah Seward (Director of UNRIC), Madi Sharma, member of the EESC, said...
Gabi Bischoff visited Armut und Gesundheit in Deutschland e.V. in Mainz
"We have an army of committed people in our civil society. These people deserve our appreciation and they also need the necessary political support." So said Gabi Bischoff, President of the Workers’ Group at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), on her 22 July visit to "Verein Armut und Gesundheit in Deutschland", which is dedicated to providing medical treatment to the poor and socially disadvantaged. The EESC has made combating poverty and social exclusion one of its priorities under the current presidency, in order to further social, economic and territorial cohesion in Europe. It has already drafted a number of opinions on the subject, including a proposal for a European minimum income and fairer taxation policy.
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