Download — EESC opinion: Amendment - Forest reproductive material: ‘tested’ category, its labelling and the names of the authorities responsible for the approval and control of the production
In the last years, the EU has been extending its cooperation with the Central Asian countries, with the signature of different agreements. The EU-Kazakhstan Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement is already in the implementation phase and its article 251 contains provisions on civil society.
Ongoing (updated on 20/11/2024) - Bureau decision date: 17/09/2024
Strengthening SMEs' competitiveness in the EU, especially vis-à-vis companies from outside Europe, is not possible without reducing excessive regulatory burdens, including the reduction of reporting obligations. The problem of overregulation of EU law, especially in comparison with other parts of the world, has been repeatedly pointed out by organisations representing European entrepreneurs. The opinion aims at identifying the reasons for introducing excessive regulatory burdens in EU law and the areas that restrain SMEs' competitiveness the most. The opinion will analyse the impact of the new sustainability reporting obligations (both those already introduced and those planned) on the SMEs' competitiveness, by indicating the actual benefits of this process
Ongoing (updated on 20/11/2024) - 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.
Ongoing (updated on 20/11/2024) - Bureau decision date: 18/01/2024
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.
Ongoing (updated on 18/11/2024) - Bureau decision date: 18/01/2024
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.
Download — EESC section opinion: Water Politics: Empowering Youth, Women, and Indigenous and Local Communities
The opinion will explore the state of democracy in Africa and the role that the EU-Africa partnership and the recently signed Samoa agreement can play in strengthening democracy and democratic values in the region.
Download — EESC section opinion: Democracy in Africa – current situation and future perspectives. What role for the EESC?
Cohesion policy in its current form has had positive impact on the socio-economic development of the EU, individual countries and regions. However, the Polish presidency points out that there is a need to improve the effectiveness of the mechanisms supporting the transformational objectives of cohesion policy. In the discussion of its future, there are ideas aimed at reforming the implementation mechanisms with the approach used in the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) implemented since 2021 as a response to the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and to support the transformation processes of economies.
Ongoing (updated on 16/11/2024) - Bureau decision date: 17/09/2024
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT, 1998) is a multilateral trade and investment agreement applicable to the energy sector. Eleven Member States and the UK, representing more than 70% of the European population, have already decided to exit the ECT. The ECT is the most used investment treaty by multinational corporations to sue countries and the number of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases is rising each year. As long as the EU is still a member of the ECT, even the EU Member States that have already left the ECT can still be sued for pursuing EU policies.
The proposed decision aims to codify the interpretation of the European Court of Justice that the ECT does not apply to disputes between a Member State and an investor of another Member State concerning an investment made by the latter in the first Member State.
Download — EESC section opinion: Decision on the interpretation and application of the Energy Charter Treaty
Securitisation is the process of transforming a batch of debts into a marketable security, that is backed by the original debts. This process can increase the availability of credit, increasing investment and supporting economic growth in a way that increases competitiveness and improves labour market.
This own-initiative opinion will present a thorough description of the challenges and opportunities that come with securitisation, and provide concrete policy proposals for a possible future revision of the securitisation regulation.
Download — EESC section opinion: Review of the legal framework for securitisation in the EU
The rule of law is one of the common values on which the European Union is founded. European Commission’s rule of law mechanism has so far only examined compliance with the rule of law in the member states in only four areas, but unfortunately not as a prerequisite for economic activity or as a location factor. The own-initiative opinion on the economic dimension of the Rule of Law would look for examples of protectionism and the implementation of discriminatory measures against foreign investors in some member states as non-compliance and circumvention of European regulations lead to enormous distortions of competition for companies operating in the internal market. The own-initiative opinion would also seek to include a chapter on the economic dimension of fundamental rights in the European Commissions’ Rule of law report.
Ongoing (updated on 14/11/2024) - 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:
Minimum excise duty rates;
Harmonisation of the taxation of new products (i.e. e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products, modern oral products);
Fight against fraud;
Ongoing (updated on 14/11/2024) - Bureau decision date: 15/02/2024
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.
Download — EESC section opinion: Potential challenges for the European single market arising from the future enlargement of the Union
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.
Download — EESC section opinion: Revision of the Territorial Agenda 2030 - Towards a more integrated and civic approach with stronger links with the cohesion policy
