About: EESC

Momentum for Social Europe

EU minimum wage legislation can help drive much-needed momentum for social policy reform, writes Oliver Röpke.

EU companies ready to take on twin green, digital transitions

EU employers are ready to switch gear and accelerate the roll-out of the green and digital transitions, writes Stefano Mallia.

Europe needs a new governance mechanism for sustainability

The European Union unveiled a strategy last week to become the world's first climate neutral economy by 2050, generating a positive momentum ahead of the COP24 in Katowice, writes Luca Jahier.

Civil Protection needs more and targeted EU involvement

Climate change has been described as one of the biggest global threats of the 21st century. Dimitris Dimitriadis explains what the European Union needs to do to improve its civil protection capacities.

How to turn citizens’ consultations into a success

Four conditions should be met if we want to make citizens' consultations a success and avoid turning the greatly anticipated initiative launched by France's President Emmanuel Macron and backed by 26 countries into a boomerang, which would irremediably drain trust in the EU project, writes Thierry Libaert.

EU cultural diplomacy must be used as a peace-building and soft power tool

International cultural relations have an enormous and untapped potential within the current global context, in which freedom of expression, human rights and mutual cooperation are under threat, writes Luca Jahier.

New mandate for EESC ignores civil society

The EU will lose all credibility in the eyes of its citizens if it continues to appoint institutions in an unrepresentative, gender imbalanced way, argues Madi Sharma.

More Europe for energy too

Europe's energy needs could be better met through a European Energy Community providing for common negotiations with external providers, a common market and shared research, argues Staffan Nilsson, president of the European Economic and Social Committee.

Let’s get back to EU values

Europe needs to return to its core values of integration, tolerance and diversity as the means of coping with globalisation, argues European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) President Staffan Nilsson.

Poland: A Tonic for Europe

The optimistic tone Poland has adopted for its six-month presidency of the European Union is providing a welcome antidote to the reigning discourse of austerity, Euroscepticism and xenophobia in other countries, argues Staffan Nilsson.