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.
In view of Europe's current security challenges, in particular: with the armed conflict caused by Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, defence funding places a significant burden on the budgets of many EU Member States, worsening their fiscal position.
At the same time, the resources that Member States are currently able to allocate to the development of defence capabilities still seem to be insufficient.
As Europe needs to develop defence capabilities in a more integrated way, there is a need to significantly increase investment in European defence infrastructure and technological innovation to improve preparedness to respond to threats.
Folyamatban lévő munkák (updated on 29/10/2024) - Bureau decision date: 13/12/2022
In 2021 the European Commission announced the revision of the Council Directive 2011/64/EU on the excise rules for tobacco. In the inception impact assessment, the EC stated that there are areas of weakness and ambiguity in the current legal arrangements which give rise to market distortions, legal uncertainty and can also hinder the detection and prevention of fraud. The review will ensure that the rules remain fit for the purpose and improve the proper functioning of the internal market, and a high level of health protection. The policy changes focus on:
Folyamatban lévő munkák (updated on 29/10/2024) - Bureau decision date: 17/09/2024
The recommendations of this EESC own-initiative opinion focus on ensuring a more competitive and economically, environmentally and socially sustainable European maritime space to increase the global competitiveness of the EU shipping sector. This can be achieved through broader investment policies and legislative initiatives. The social partners and civil society must be actively involved in these efforts.
Folyamatban lévő munkák (updated on 28/10/2024) - Bureau decision date: 17/09/2024
The future Polish Presidency has asked the EESC to develop an exploratory opinion, as deepening the integration of the services sector in the EU is one of the planned priorities of this Presidency; therefore the opinion could be useful in the context of the discussions foreseen at the COMPET Council on 6 March 2025. As the single market for services is still incomplete - even after the 30th anniversary of the single market itself - the opinion aims at providing a diagnosis of this issue and an analysis of the significant untapped potential of this sector.
Folyamatban lévő munkák (updated on 28/10/2024) - Bureau decision date: 22/10/2024
This subject of this own-initiative opinion is multidimensional, requiring from the opinion to address a wide spectrum of subtopics, while having a clear and logical thread.
Folyamatban lévő munkák (updated on 22/10/2024) - Bureau decision date: 17/09/2024
The European Union’s ambitious climate targets have significantly impacted resource and energy-intensive industries (REIIs), which are crucial to the EU economy. These industries face rising costs due to high energy prices, carbon pricing, and regulatory changes. This opinion will reflect on the optimal solutions to maintain the competitiveness of EU industry in face if the rising energy prices and the costs required to support the transition towards a low-carbon economy.
Folyamatban lévő munkák (updated on 22/10/2024) - Bureau decision date: 18/01/2024
The opinion aims to examine the economic development of candidate countries and the potential effects of enlargement on the EU Single Market. This opinion is part of a pilot project involving Enlargement Candidate Members in the preparatory work.
Folyamatban lévő munkák (updated on 14/10/2024) - Bureau decision date: 18/01/2024
The Territorial Agenda (TA) 2030 is an inter-governmental declaration with no direct legal, financial or institutional implementation instrument. The application of the Territorial Agenda 2030 relies on informal multilevel cooperation between Member States, sub-national authorities, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Investment Bank and other relevant players.
Folyamatban lévő munkák (updated on 14/10/2024) - Bureau decision date: 15/02/2024
To meet the EU objective of climate neutrality by 2050 and to secure a sustainable, affordable and reliable/secure energy system, a low-carbon transition of the industrial value chain is needed. To succeed, a coordinated set of sectoral industrial strategies under the comprehensive EU Industrial Strategy is needed, to safeguard the EU industrial competitiveness. The recent launch by the Commission of dedicated Strategies for e.g., the Electric Batteries, Hydrogen and Critical Raw Materials, proves forward-thinking about the importance of sectoral support for the low carbon transition. However, what is striking is the lack of a Liquid Fuels Strategy, dedicated to the transition from fossil to renewable liquid fuels, for an accelerated, affordable and resilient decarbonisation of all transport modes.
Folyamatban lévő munkák (updated on 14/10/2024) - Bureau decision date: 11/07/2024