Various Interests Group (Group III) - Presentation
The composition of the European Economic and Social Committee reflects the changing face of European society. The presence of the Various Interests Group, alongside the Employers' Group and the Employees' Group, ensures that the Committee is able to give full voice to the concerns of the various social, occupational, economic and cultural organisations that make up civil society.
The unique feature which forges Group III's identity is the wide range of categories represented within its ranks: its members are drawn from farmers' organisations, small businesses, the crafts sector, the professions, cooperatives and non-profit associations, consumer organisations, environmental organisations, associations representing the family, persons with disabilities, the scientific and academic community and non-governmental organisations.
These diverse groupings are bound together by their sense of duty towards the large proportion of the EU population whose interests they represent. This sense of duty has always inspired the group to call for social and economic players to be effectively involved in the shaping of EU decisions.
The shared goal is to achieve real economic and social democracy in the EU.More on Group III...
The European Economic and Social Committee's Group III consists of 109 members from all 27 Member States of the European Union. Officially, the group is known as the "various interests" group and comprises members from many different organisations in the Member States. These include representatives from the environmental field, the social economy, farmers, consumers, cooperatives, and small and medium-sized businesses.
Proposals to appoint members for the EESC's four-year term of office come from the various Member States, which use slightly different methods of nominating representatives from their organisations. The Council of the European Union then formally appoints the representatives. Members have an advisory function and the rules expressly state that they may express their opinions freely. They may not follow any fixed mandate from their organisations.
Group III is a lively forum for various interest groups. When representatives of consumers and producers come together we are able to find common ground that advances the interests of both sides, and shows where a compromise might be possible on contentious issues.
It is an advantage that most members also return to their organisations in the Member States, as this means we can take the discussion home with us. If our membership only comprised representatives of organisations that already have an EU-Brussels presence, we would have nothing new to bring the process that enables organised civil society to be part of and to influence European Union policy framing.
Group III has expert representatives from environmental organisations. Some say that we are not representative because we do not have environmental organisations from all the Member States. However, the fact is that the environment is an issue that everyone needs to engage with. Environmental issues are horizontal; they affect everyone.
There are hardly any organisations that are not actively engaged in some type of environmental work in their respective fields. At the same time, we do need the energy that environmental organisations can bring to the debate in order to challenge entrenched views and move forward. Otherwise we will never achieve the objective of sustainable development.
Group III discussions between consumers and farmers have provided a good forum for dialogue. Although a common position is not always achieved, these regular, structured meetings lead to increased dialogue and better understanding.
For Group III, our contacts with the surrounding world are particularly important. We meet up with partner organisations in our cooperation efforts with Euromed, the ACP countries, the Northern Dimension and, especially, as part of the European Union's Neighbourhood Policy, as well as other contacts established by the EESC.
As part of the EESC's more general activities, Group III maintains good cooperation with both Group I (Employers) and Group II (Workers). The scope of Group III's representation makes us a dynamic force with our own views, but we have representatives from organisations that are also represented by the other two interest groups, and they are often able to point the way to achieving a common position for the EESC.
Contacts with all other European organisations are particularly important for Group III. We do not claim to have a monopoly on representing civil society, but we are able to exploit the constitutional framework we have as an institution and create meeting places. Group III has agreements with a large number of representative European organisations.
We are able to get expert input from them and offer them the opportunity to take part in our core activity, which is to give an opinion on Commission proposals and communications, European Parliament referrals and the own-initiative opinions drawn up by the EESC.
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