ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
4.8.

EU ETS Market Stability Reserve (MSR) has been absorbing excess allowances from the market since the beginning of 2019, which is the main reason for the EUR 25 price. It will continue to take out the surplus and cancel those permits later. However, the MSR was designed to handle past oversupply accumulated over the years. It is not fit for purpose to deal with current or future surpluses. The MSR will need to be strengthened EU carbon market prices are plummeting as a result of the economic shutdown caused by the COVID-19 crisis, underlining the need to strengthen the scheme to better resist similar shocks. Just before the crisis, the EU ETS price was EUR 25 per tonne, helping drive the coal phase-out. Due to the current price drop, the profitability of lignite plants has unfortunately already improved. The price drop also means reduced revenues to Member States from the auctioning of emission allowances. A lower carbon price means less exposure to the carbon price signal to incentivise emission reductions. This is especially important for large polluting industrial sectors (steel, chemicals, cement) and the aviation sector. Thehas been absorbing excess allowances from the market since the beginning of 2019, which is the main reason for the EUR 25 price. It will continue to take out the surplus and cancel those permits later. However, the MSR was designed to handle past oversupply accumulated over the years. It is not fit for purpose to deal with current or future surpluses. The MSR will need to be strengthened ( 25 ) in the context of EU Climate Law implementation and the upcoming review of the EU carbon market rules.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 as regards the introduction of specific measures for addressing the COVID-19 crisis’

(COM(2020) 223 — 2020/0105 (COD))

(2020/C 311/14)

Referral European Parliament, 17.6.2020 Council, 8.6.2020 Legal basis Article 175(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship Adopted at plenary 10.6.2020 Plenary session No 552 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 225/2/3

Since the Committee unreservedly endorses the contents of the proposal and has already set out its views on the subject in its earlier position paper SOC/651 — Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD)/COVID-19 Crisis (EESC-2020-01741-00-01-PAC-TRA-EN), sent to the Council and the European Parliament on 15 April 2020, it decided, at its 552nd plenary session of 10 and 11 June 2020, by 225 votes to two with three abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text and to refer to the position it had taken in the abovementioned document.
1.5.2.

Special attention must be paid to strengthening the rights of the elderly and people with a disability; in particular, a framework for joint assessment needs to be drawn up providing for a personalised care plan, prioritising assistance in the home or in small residential homes, ensuring that residential care is governed by criteria of quality and accessibility, and providing the long-term care that these people need. The very high mortality rates in many care homes for the elderly and for people with a disability must focus attention on the need to improve care home management, something that has been called into question in many EU countries. As a general principle, the entire policy of support for elderly people should be reviewed, partly in connection with the European Commission's work on the impact of demographic change in Europe. In line with work already carried out on specific determinants of health, the EESC calls for clear and innovative guidelines to be drawn up, putting human beings and the human rights of the elderly and the most fragile people at the heart of priorities.
2.10.

In 2019, industrial production was finally back at pre-crisis (pre-2007) levels. Industry is still the backbone of our economy, and has to provide the solutions for the many challenges our society is facing. Industry also has an important social role to play due to its high added value activities, quality jobs and the creation of indirect employment in related services. Therefore, the EESC welcomes the comprehensive set of proposals set out in the communication and hopes they will be swiftly designed and implemented. However, the dramatic decline of industrial production due to the coronavirus crisis requires that the emergency measures taken by governments and supported by the Commission to keep viable companies afloat and to protect employees' income have to be continued as long as they are needed.
2.3.

As a best practice, diversity management in the workplace involves businesses working with trade unions through collective bargaining — with the support of NGOs and governments — to co-develop strategies aimed at improving workforce inclusion and equality. Special attention should be given to companies in Member States with a low level of collective bargaining coverage and to micro and small enterprises, which also employ many migrants and ethnic minorities and which should be supported, through social dialogue, to develop diversity policies. This requires a participatory assessment of obstacles to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and how it will be managed, monitored and evaluated. Strategies can include addressing organisational structures which have discriminatory impacts (such as recruitment and hiring practices), ensuring diversity in governance structures and collecting data to report outcomes related to staff retention, career progression and equal treatment. Diversity management strategies can also include reviewing conflict resolution and internal complaint mechanisms, where management in consultation with trade unions establishes clear processes for how complaints are investigated and appropriate measures taken to remedy any rights violations, while protecting complainants from retaliation. Activities can include running training courses, setting up support groups and developing mentoring programmes. Furthermore, diversity policies can encourage ethnic minorities and migrants to take part in workplace consultative bodies such as workplace councils.
2.3.1

In order for this to be achieved, the Territorial Agenda 2030 calls for the territorial dimension of all policies at all levels of governance to be strengthened. In this sense, it is built on three pillars: — The first key objective is a Just Europe, which offers future prospects for all types of territories and their inhabitants. This objective emphasises the contribution of the territorial dimension and spatial planning to bridging and linking policy priorities such as: economic, social and territorial cohesion; the European Pillar of Social Rights; a Europe that is closer to citizens; more inclusive, sustainable and integrated urban and territorial development; just transformation; and territorial integration in Europe. — A second key objective is a green Europe that protects our shared environment and shapes societal transformation. Here the aim is to highlight the contribution of the territorial dimension and spatial planning to achieving policy priorities such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the EU's Green Deal, the Paris Agreement and Europe's transition to a circular economy. — Thirdly, the Territorial Agenda 2030 provides strategic orientation for spatial planning and calls for the territorial dimension of all policies at all levels of governance to be strengthened. In this context, it also concerns the EESC, which is asked to inform its members of its priorities and encourage them to work together to implement it. This includes emphasising the importance of civil society partners in ensuring a sustainable future for all territories, and strengthening CLLD and any other instrument facilitating integrated territorial development and cooperation. In addition, EESC members are asked to defend the priorities of the Territorial Agenda in policy debates at European level.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Council Directive amending Council Directive 2006/112/EC as regards temporary measures in relation to value added tax for COVID-19 vaccines and in vitro diagnostic medical devices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’

(COM(2020) 688 final — 2020/0311 (CNS))

(2021/C 56/09)

Referral Council of the European Union, 6.11.2020 Legal basis Article 113 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion Adopted at plenary 2.12.2020 Plenary session No 556 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 195/0/3

Since the Committee has announced its support for taxation rules due to the COVID-19 crisis in its opinion on the Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU to address the urgent need for deferring certain time limits for the filing and exchange of information in the field of taxation due to the COVID-19 pandemic (COM(2020) 197 final — 2020/0081 (CNS)); on the Proposal for a Council Decision amending Directives (EU) 2017/2455 and (EU) 2019/1995 as regards the dates of transposition and application due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis (COM(2020) 198 final — 2020/0082 (CNS)) and on the Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2017/2454 as regards the dates of application due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis (COM(2020) 201 final — 2020/0084 (CNS)) (1), adopted on 10 June 2020 and this amendment to Directive 2006/112/EC does not contain any further content for the EESC to comment on, it decided, at its 556th plenary session of 2 and 3 December 2020 (meeting of 2 December 2020), by 195 votes with 3 abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text and to refer to the position it had taken in the abovementioned document.

Brussels, 2 December 2020. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Christa SCHWENG

(1) OJ C 311, 18.9.2020, p. 76.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and the Council amending Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a European Union Civil Protection Mechanism’

(COM(2020) 220 – 2020/0097 (COD))

(2021/C 10/12)

Referral Council, 24.6.2020 Legal basis Article 196 and Article 322(1)(a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment Adopted at plenary 29.10.2020 Plenary session No 555 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 209/0/9

Since the Committee endorses the contents of the proposal and has already set out its views on the subject in its earlier opinions Strengthen EU’s civil protection response — rescEU (1) and Union Civil Protection Mechanism — amendment (2), adopted on 18 October 2018 and 19 June 2019, it decided, at its 555th plenary session of 27, 28 and 29 October 2020 (meeting of 29 October 2020), by 209 votes with 9 abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text and to refer to the position it had taken in the abovementioned documents.

Brussels, 29 October 2020. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Christa SCHWENG

(1) OJ C 62, 15.2.2019, p. 231.

(2) OJ C 282, 20.8.2019, p. 49.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the minimum level of training of seafarers (codification)’

(COM(2020) 739 final — 2020/0329 (COD))

(2021/C 123/13)

Referrals European Parliament, 23.11.2020 Council of the European Union, 27.11.2020 Legal basis Article 100(2) and Article 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society Adopted at plenary 27.1.2021 Plenary session No 557 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) unanimous

Since the Committee unreservedly endorses the content of the proposal and feels that it requires no comment on its part, it decided unanimously, at its 557th plenary session of 27 and 28 January 2021 (meeting of 27 January), to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.
1.6.

The Communication focuses in particular on hydrogen and offshore wind energy. These are important technologies, but their use should only be complementary — where onshore wind energy and solar energy, as well as short-term storage such as batteries, are insufficient. This is because, for the foreseeable future, onshore wind energy and solar are not just the cheapest forms of energy production, but also the best options for attaining an important strategic goal of the Energy Union: decentralisation as a way of creating secure and good jobs and generally making the most of the sociopolitical and regional economic benefits of the energy transition, empowering consumers also as prosumers and putting them at the heart of the energy system, combating energy poverty, increasing security of supply while promoting regional development and fostering buy-in for the transition. In particular, onshore wind energy and photovoltaics enable direct system integration: for example, the use of solar energy on the spot to charge electric cars, or the use of wind energy for power-to-heat applications. The Commission ignores this great potential of onshore wind energy and photovoltaics in its Communication, which the EESC considers to be a huge mistake.
3.8.

So in order to achieve a climate-neutral outcome, different approaches to short- and long-lived GHG are needed. In order to bring temperature levels back down to those existing prior to CO 2 emissions, offsetting the permanent temperature increase caused by the continued radiative effect of CO 2 , CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere needs to be actively reduced by means of CO 2 sinks. Also, in order to bring down temperature levels where CO 2 emissions continue (because they are unavoidable), the same amount of CO 2 needs to be continuously removed from the atmosphere as is being added (net-zero emissions). This is reflected in the net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal. However, climate-neutral effects are already achieved with stable emissions from (biogenic) methane sources, while offsetting methane emissions converted into CO 2 equivalent by removing GHG from the atmosphere leads to a cooling effect.
2.16.

Given that in many MS it is the local or regional level that is responsible for prevention and delivering healthcare services, it is of paramount importance that the EU’s health package foresees multi-level governance that fully includes local and regional authorities, emergency organisations and service providers. It needs to be clear that, in the event of a major health incident, the local authorities will have a vital role to play in relaying information and data and in communicating the availability of hospital beds, nurses and life-saving devices and medicines in their locality. This information needs to be collected centrally at the EU level and, in the case of border regions, solidarity should be shown between the MS in supporting neighbouring regions and EU accession countries who have exceeded capacity in the provision of emergency healthcare. In some MS, health services are provided by social economy enterprises as non-profits, such as mutual health insurance companies. In all MS there should be adequate legal and financial frameworks for these services to ensure direct participation in EU measures, fair competition and upwards convergence in quality and accessibility, while ensuring that the principle of health as a public good is maintained. Besides, taking into account its opinion ‘Towards an appropriate European legal framework for social economy enterprises’, the EESC proposes introducing into EU law a legal framework suited to better recognition of Social Economy Enterprises (SEE). All relevant stakeholders within the MS should be addressed directly, digitally and quickly by the central data-collection team, to maximise the accuracy of the data collected and que quality of the EU’s coordinated response.
1.6. The EESC supports the proposal to identify national authorities responsible for ensuring appropriate oversight of the new rules. In this regard, it points out that the authorities responsible for safeguarding personal data which are already in place in the Member States could be responsible for implementing the rules referred to in the Commission’s proposal, drawing on their expertise, without new authorities being created. 4.9. The EESC is very much in favour of identifying national authorities (Articles 12 and 20) responsible for ensuring appropriate oversight regarding the enforceability of the new rules established by the Commission. It endorses the list of requirements to be fulfilled by these authorities, as set out in Article 23. On this point, and without prejudice to Member States’ discretion in terms of organisation, the EESC points out that the authorities responsible for safeguarding personal data, which are already operational, have considerable technical and regulatory expertise in this field. They could therefore implement the rules covered by the Commission’s proposal themselves, without new authorities being created.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards exemptions on importations and on certain supplies, in respect of Union measures in the public interest’

(COM(2021) 181 final — 2021/0097 (CNS))

(2021/C 286/31)

Referral Council of the European Union, 16.4.2021 Legal basis Article 113 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion Adopted at plenary 27.4.2021 Plenary session No 560 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 220/0/7

Since the Committee has announced its support for taxation rules due to the COVID-19 crisis in its opinion on the Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU to address the urgent need for deferring certain time limits for the filing and exchange of information in the field of taxation due to the COVID-19 pandemic (COM(2020) 197 final — 2020/0081 (CNS)); on the Proposal for a Council Decision amending Directives (EU) 2017/2455 and (EU) 2019/1995 as regards the dates of transposition and application due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis (COM(2020) 198 final — 2020/0082 (CNS)) and on the Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2017/2454 as regards the dates of application due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis (COM(2020) 201 final — 2020/0084 (CNS)) (1), adopted on 10 June 2020 and this amendment to Directive 2006/112/EC (2) does not contain any further content for the EESC to comment on, it decided, at its 560th plenary session of 27 and 28 April 2021 (meeting of 27 April 2021), by 220 votes with 7 abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text and to refer to the position it had taken in the abovementioned document.

Brussels, 27 April 2021. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Christa SCHWENG

(1) OJ C 311, 18.9.2020, p. 76.

(2) OJ L 347, 11.12.2006, p. 1.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific and temporary measures in view of the COVID-19 outbreak concerning the renewal or extension of certain certificates, licences and authorisations and the postponement of certain periodic checks and periodic training in certain areas of transport legislation, for reference periods subsequent to those referred to in Regulation (EU) 2020/698’

(COM(2021) 25 final — 2021/0012 (COD))

(2021/C 123/17)

Referrals Council of the European Union, 28.1.2021 European Parliament, 8.2.2021 Legal basis Articles 91, 100(2) and 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society Adopted at plenary 27.1.2021 Plenary session No 557 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) unanimous

Since the Committee unreservedly endorses the content of the proposal and feels that it requires no comment on its part, it decided unanimously, at its 557th plenary session of 27 and 28 January 2021 (meeting of 27 January), to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.
3.12.

The EESC would finally like to draw attention to some possible unwanted effects of the new proposal. The implementing role for the Commission, with regard to some of the more relevant concepts contained in the VAT Directive, could make it difficult to distinguish between the scope of the Commission’s new powers, on one hand, and what will actually constitute a modification of the VAT Directive, on the other. Such uncertainty might possibly make it more difficult to reach the unanimous agreement needed to modify the VAT Directive within the Council in the future.
4.1.3.

A new package on labour market outcomes of persons with disabilities. As part of this package, the EC will also seek to ensure rigorous application by the MS of the rights covered by the Employment Equality Directive and will report on the Directive’s application in 2021. The EC will also oversee the development of an Action Plan on the Social Economy in 2021, including opportunities related to persons with disabilities and integration into the open labour market. Persons with disabilities face many barriers to accessing employment. The EESC believes that the EC must be clear on which barriers exist and which must be addressed most urgently, as well as how COVID-19 has worsened the situation. We recommend that the design of the package be preceded by research or a survey to ask persons with disabilities, and the organisations of persons with disabilities, what they want to see done. The EESC also believes that the employment package should focus on the ability to access quality employment on the open labour market, including in the social economy and D-WISE employment models, preventing the further exclusion of persons with disabilities, and particularly reaching out to women and young people with disabilities who are looking for work. The aim should not only be to improve employment rates, but to enable persons with disabilities to improve their social status and financial wellbeing through paid work.
3.2.

The measures provided for in Regulation (EU) No 1386/2011, which were aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of local economic operators and thus securing more stable employment on the islands, are due to expire on 31 December 2021. In April 2021, the Spanish government requested the prolongation of the suspension of the autonomous Common Customs Tariff duties for a number of products. According to the request, the constraints faced by the region, being structural and permanent, continue to be related to its isolation, the small size of the market and its fragmentation. The islands are also unable to benefit from European integration to the same extent as regions on the continent. The suspension scheme to which the proposal relates is intended to reduce these constraints on the Canary Islands’ market. In addition, due to the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spanish government has also requested the suspension of Common Customs Tariff duties for seven new product categories.