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.
EESC's public hearing on the European Citizens Initiative in the context of the ongoing review process. Questions to be tackled: policy areas covered by the ECI and the validation process; the current political limits to participatory democracy on a European level; the role of the EU institutions and Member States in the process and a better defined support.
Charlemagne building (European Commission), room S3 - 1040 Brussels
Belgium
514e Plenary Session, with the following debates :
Debate on upholding the achievements made under the Schengen agreement, on Wednesday 17 February at 2.30 p.m., with Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament (tbc), Eva PAUNOVA, member of the European Parliament, Vice-president of the European Movement, Markus Beyrer, director general of BusinessEurope, Luca Visentini, general secretary of ETUC, Allan Päll, secretary general of the European Youth Forum, and Conny Reuter, co-chair of the Liaison group with European civil society organisations and networks.
Debate on the 2016 Annual Growth Survey, on Wednesday 17 February at 5.30 p.m., with Maria João Rodrigues, member of the European Parliament, S&D group vice-chair responsible for economic and social policies, in conjunction with the adoption of opinion SC/042
Presentation of the Dutch presidency of the Council of the EU, on Thursday 18 February at 10 a.m., with Jetta Klijnsma, State Secretary at the Dutch Ministry for Social Affairs and Employment
Debate on the rights of humankind, on Thursday 18 February at 11.30 a.m., with Corinne Lepage, former French environment minister.
The European Commission released in December 2015 the new version of the circular economy package. Its aim is to help the European economy move from linear to circular, more resource-efficient patterns, by ensuring that less resources are extracted from our natural environment and less waste is produced at the end of the product lifecycle. The package focuses on better design of products, improved waste management and recycling performance of EU Member States and the growth and job creation potential of the circular economy. It includes an Action Plan with a specific timeline up until 2017 on production aspects as well as a series of modifications to the waste legislation.
Representatives of the European and Georgian Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs), set up under the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Georgia, held their first joint meeting in Tbilisi on 26 January 2016. The participants expressed their commitment to fulfil the mandate foreseen in the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter of the Association Agreement, namely to monitor the implementation of the Chapter and to provide advice to the Parties to the Agreement.
• Review of the Luxembourg presidency of the Council of the EU, on Wednesday 9 December at 5 p.m., with the participation of Nicolas Schmit, Luxembourg's Minister for Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy
• Presentation of the European Commission's 2016 Work Programme and debate on the European Agenda on Migration, in conjunction with the adoption of opinions on migration (REX/452, REX/457, SOC/525 and SOC/526), on 10 Dec. at 10 a.m., with Frans Timmermans, First vice-president of the European Commission
The President referred to the shortcomings of the ECI legislation and the problems encountered by organisers in the first years. He announced that the EESC was offering organisers of registered ECIs the opportunity to have the text presenting their ECI translated, thus addressing one of the most pressing problems for new ECIs and presented the European Passport to Active Citizenship.
An active civil society was a means of ensuring active participation. The objective would be to make the ECI efficient and practical, eliminate the technical obstacles and improve communication.The ECI should remain in the mainstream of EU policies to unblock the process of European integration...
One year after the launch of the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI), now is a good time to assess this first year, hear the experiences of organisers, draw conclusions from the lessons learnt, devise intermediate solutions and start preparing for the 2015 revision of the regulation.
Perspectives from civil society and local/regional authorities
Conference
EESC
Brussels
Belgium
The European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) is one of the major innovations of the Treaty of Lisbon, aimed at increasing direct democracy in the EU. The initiative enables one million EU citizens, who are nationals of at least one quarter of the Member States, to call directly on the European Commission to propose a legal act in an area within the competences of the EU.