ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
4.1.

The EESC reiterates the views it expressed in opinion SOC/646, but wishes to highlight certain points in view of the impact of the pandemic, which has shone a light on certain problem areas, as well as priorities for action. The EESC considers it essential, given the imbalances that have been growing for more than a decade and have been exacerbated by the crisis resulting from the consequences of COVID-19, to intervene with effective policies to align economic growth with social development, through measures to support competitiveness and build on the quality of labour systems and employment policies. To this end, investments linked to the NRRPs must be implemented in the Member States and checked against the objectives of the guidelines for 2021, with a particular focus on enhancing labour demand and supply and promoting conditions for equal opportunities, the functioning of the labour market and inclusion. It is important to work towards close, consistent coordination between the policies adopted to deal with the emergency, the forms of support launched through the SURE fund, the measures and investments promoted for recovery through the Recovery Plan and the measures defined and financed through the 2021–2027 programming of the Structural Funds.
2.2.

The segment particularly relating to youth was set in the context of the social market and the European Pillar of Social Rights. The speech further referenced the new ALMA initiative from DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion, which is focused on young people not in employment, education or training. The speech also connected the proposal with the Conference on the Future of Europe: ‘And it is why we will make sure that young people can help lead the debate in the Conference on the Future of Europe. This is their future and this must be their Conference, too. And as we said when we took office, the Commission will be ready to follow up on what is agreed by the Conference’. Ursula von der Leyen, State of the Union address, 15 September 2021
1.8.

It is necessary to support massive public investment into R & D in scientific and technological work to improve batteries, especially in terms of size, capacity and length of service. If research can achieve a reduction in the lithium requirement for batteries for vehicles then it would reduce our dependence on tight global supplies which come from outside the EU. This possibility would improve EU capacity in relation to the rapid uptake of renewable energy for transport, leading to sustainable mobility. Also, there is an urgent need for R & D and technological development so that all possible alternative fuels are evaluated and promoted and all transport modes are considered. It would be unwise to become dependent on one system only. In particular the potential of green hydrogen should be explored.
3.17.

Here the EESC would likewise stress that it is important that the information in the system be used for ITS purposes only and not for other ends. The EESC reiterates the importance of effective privacy and data protection in the context of the deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems. However, the General Data Protection Regulation does not provide sufficient protection when technologies (e.g. mobility patterns of vehicle data, facial recognition, etc.) that allow conclusions to be drawn about individuals or even discriminate through algorithms are used when anonymising data. When it comes to the use of personal data in the workplace, workers, their representatives and trade unions need a say and a veto. The EESC stresses that Article 10 of the proposal (provisions on data protection and privacy) must exclude this potential risk. This is particularly important to strengthen trust in the system and acceptance in society at large.
Opinion — European Economic and Social Committee — Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down for certain road vehicles circulating within the Union the maximum authorised dimensions in national and international traffic and the maximum authorised weights in international traffic (codification)

[COM(2021) 769 final – 2021/0400 (COD)]

(2022/C 275/18)

Referral European Parliament, 13.12.2021 Council of the European Union, 17.12.2021 Legal basis Articles 91 and 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society Adopted at plenary 23.2.2022 Plenary session No 567 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 214/1/6

Since the Committee unreservedly endorses the content of the proposal and feels that it requires no comment on its part, it decided, at its 567th plenary session of 23 and 24 February 2022 (meeting of 23 February), by 214 votes to 1 with 6 abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.
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 1303/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 as regards increased pre-financing from REACT-EU resources

(COM(2022) 145 final — 2022/0096 (COD))

Amended proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 as regards increased pre-financing from REACT-EU resources

(COM(2022) 162 final — 2022/0096 (COD))

(2022/C 323/24)

Referral Council of the European Union, 25.3.2022 and 4.4.2022 European Parliament, 4.4.2022 Legal basis Articles 175(3), 177 and 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion Adopted at plenary 18.5.2022 Plenary session No 569 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 179/0/4

Since the Committee endorses the content of both proposals for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 and Regulation (EU) No 223/2014 as regards increased pre-financing from REACT-EU resources and feels that it requires no comment on its part, it decided, at its 569th plenary session of 18 and 19 May 2022, (meeting of 18 May), by 179 votes with 4 abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.
1.1.

The communication at hand must be seen in the overall context of REPower EU, the main objective of which is to break away from Russian fossil fuels. The situation is serious and calls for an unprecedented response and the maximum level of solidarity and trust among EU Member States. Europe needs an efficient plan which would foresee different energy shortage scenarios, and outline how these situations should be tackled with joint action of the EU Member States and how energy infrastructure would be most efficiently used and further developed. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) encourages joint actions by Member States to respond to the need for proper infrastructure and its efficient use.
3.1.4.

The proposal provides a focus on supporting investment into cross-border and openly accessible research, development and innovation infrastructures set up in the European Union. The EESC notes that to achieve these goals, the EU must be able to rely on human capital, on researchers, as they are the only ones who can develop the innovation potential of the EU. The EESC wonders what concrete actions are being taken to ensure that our EU researchers do not seek to emigrate outside the EU and to ensure their active role in the foreseen network of competence centres across Europe?
4.2

As per the Pact of Amsterdam (PoA) the EESC is invited to contribute, within its competence, to the further development of the UAEU, and is one of the PoA stakeholders. The PoA’s validity was reiterated in the New Leipzig Charter Implementing Document and the Ljubljana Agreement. The EESC’s role in the UAEU and the Ljubljana Agreement should be strengthened. The EESC is a major European stakeholder responsible for the economic and social variables of development policies, and has the capacity, expertise and legitimacy to contribute to the three pillars of the Ljubljana Agreement: better funding, better regulation, and better knowledge. The EESC should be formally recognised and should play a role in the Ljubljana Agreement’s main governance bodies, and become part of both the Urban Development Group, and the Urban Agenda Technical Preparatory Group, and involved in the Directors General meeting on urban matters.
1.1.

Before going into the content of the REPowerEU Plan, the EESC as the representative of civil society, which is unduly affected by the current dramatic price increases, points out that many of the problems that need to be solved now could have been avoided, or at least limited, if the dependency on energy imports had been reduced — as proposed by the Commission the past years. The EESC recalls the statements in the 2014 EU Energy Security Strategy and the 2015 Energy Union Strategy that the EU remains vulnerable to external energy shocks calling on policy makers at national and EU level to make clear to citizens the choices involved in reducing our dependency on particular fuels, energy suppliers and routes. However, most politicians and large parts of our society have been blinded by the cheap fossil supplies and failed to pursue any precautionary policies. The current situation is the backlash of this negligence. The EESC regrets that it has taken the war in Ukraine and the ensuing distortions in Russian energy delivery to bring attention to this basic energy security issue and trigger the measures proposed in the REPowerEU Plan to ensure independence of import of Russian energy.
4.2.2.3

Protecting the cultural, archaeological and architectural heritage is perhaps one social objective which can best be served by public-private cooperation. This is certainly the case of the Red de Paradores de España and Pousadas in Portugal, thanks to which a large number of monuments have been restored and opened to the public, generating unquestionable wealth in the surrounding area. This is a way of keeping public assets in public hands while at the same time ensuring that they are appreciated and enjoyed. This also applies to rural areas, which many SMEs see as a business opportunity. However, such activities do not necessarily have to be carried out by public entities alone; indeed, there are many examples of palaces and monuments that have been restored privately and are now profitable thanks to tourism, as the Committee's study group saw during the visit organised in connection with the Seville hearing. The countries that have just joined the EU all have an extraordinary heritage that must be restored. This is a new and exciting opportunity to promote tourism while protecting heritage. Public-private cooperation in all its forms has a very important role to play in achieving this objective.
4.4

In July 2012 the EESC held a major civil society event to bring the results of Rio to Brussels. In the process it became clear that the development of SDGs is seen as a priority theme for the follow-up to Rio, which requires public debate. Also clear was the call by the participants for the processes of defining the SDGs and revising the MDGs to be combined from the outset, if there is to be an overarching development agenda after 2015. Furthermore, it was repeatedly emphasised at this event as well as at other civil society Rio follow-up events that we in the EU have to do what we called for in Rio. The EESC is therefore convinced of the need to review the fundamental EU strategies to determine whether they meet the EU's demands for Rio+20, whether it be the Europe 2020 Strategy now in its sustainability dimension or the EU Sustainable Development Strategy.
This contradicts the third bullet point. It would be better to delete the second bullet point, as it is not for the Commission to oblige the Member States to establish a specific basket of SGEIs. For the sake of clarity the overall argument should be reiterated here: in European primary law ‘public services’ are not the same thing as SGEIs. SGEIs are already mentioned in Article 90(2) of the Treaty of Rome (now in the Treaty of Lisbon, Article 106(2)). Article 77 (now Article 93), on transport, deals with the concept of public services. This is a political name for a specific form of transport policy and therefore has nothing to do with the provision of a specific service, which is a precondition for being designated an SGEI, exclusively by a Member State or a delegated authority of the Member State, a designation which is valid only in the relevant country, region or local area. The changes to the rules on SGEIs introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon have weakened the European dimension of SGEIs rather than strengthened it, in favour of national competences (2). The new regulatory powers of the Council and the Parliament, based on Article 14, only concern the ‘principles and conditions, particularly economic and financial conditions, which enable (SGEIs) to fulfil their missions’, a power which previously resided mainly with the European Commission, the guardian of the Treaties. The Council and the Parliament thus have no powers with regard to the 14 ‘shared values’, of which affordability is one. The rules thus are, and remain, an exclusively national competence. In order to ensure that all Europeans can enjoy an acceptable quality of life, the path to take is thus clearly not that of national SGEIs but rather the route of sectoral legislation, requiring all Member States to achieve the desired minimum level. EESC opinions should focus on this and this approach will undoubtedly meet with approval and, more importantly, action by the European Commission, which has already rejected the previous three opinions arguing that the SGI route should be taken.
EN Official Journal of the European Union C 177/41

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 as regards the migration to Union-wide credit transfers and direct debits

COM(2013) 937 final 2013/0449 (COD)

(2014/C 177/07)

On 14 January 2014, the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, on the

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 as regards the migration to Union-wide credit transfers and direct debits

COM(2013) 937 final — 2013/0449 (COD).

Since the Committee endorses the content of the proposal and has already set out its views on the subject in its earlier opinion CESE 794/2011 — 2010/0373 (COD), adopted on 5 May 2011 (1), it decided, at its 495th plenary session of 21 and 22 January 2014 (meeting of 21 January), by 159 votes to 1 with 4 abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text and to refer to the position it had taken in the above-mentioned document.

Brussels, 21 January 2014. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Henri MALOSSE

(1) EESC Opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing technical requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euros and amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009, OJ C 218, 23 July 2011, p. 74.
1.6.

The EESC calls on the European Union to work closely with Member States to coordinate supply and mobility of live-in care workers as part of an approach to improve the overall capacity of the sector to deliver quality care. Specific measures should include: — improving safeguards in the Employers’ Sanctions Directive (2009/52/EC) to protect labour rights of undocumented workers in order to tackle irregular employment. The Victims’ Rights Directive (2012/29/EU) must be rigorously applied to provide effective support for live-in care workers who are victims of exploitation, regardless of their migration status; — bringing all relevant EU directives into line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No 189 providing rights for domestic workers; — including the rights of live-in carers and their care recipients in future revisions or proposals of European and Member States’ legislation; — prioritising the reform of live-in care arrangements in the European Platform Against Undeclared Work, an initiative welcomed by the EESC; — bringing care workers’ rights into the European Semester and including them in ‘New start for work-life balance’ consultations; — initiating a Europe-wide information campaign on the rights of live-in care workers addressed to care users and providers; — promoting and supporting the establishment of organisations and cooperatives of live-in care workers; — implementing processes for recognition, harmonisation and transferability of qualifications and experience acquired by live-in care workers, using instruments for the recognition of qualifications, including those newly introduced by the Agenda for new skills and jobs (1); — redirecting European funds to finance training courses for current and potential live-in care workers in order to improve the quality of care; — monitoring and improving posting of live-in carers by implementing the principle of equal pay for equal work. Moreover, it should be noted that the Commission’s proposal for the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) does not contain any reference to the situation of live-in care workers. The inclusion of their social rights should be considered in the further preparation of the EPSR, on which the EESC is currently drawing up an opinion.
1.3.1.

The EESC notes that, four years after the strategy was published, progress towards implementing all recommendations has been uneven — the average implementation rate is only 25 %. Recommendations relating to the RDI pillar have been implemented relatively well. Rather less successful, but still effective, has been the implementation of recommendations under the ‘employment and skills’ pillar, with the exception of informal learning. This is followed by the roll-out of measures on ‘improving market access and fair competition’. Progress on such measures is rated at only 20 %. The pillar with the weakest level of implementation (an average of 15 %) is ‘access to finance’, with the exception of measures to promote EIB financing. The EESC calls on the Commission and stakeholders to step up the strategy's roll-out and to carry over key, outstanding recommendations to the sector's new strategy (LeaderSHIP 2030) which has been proposed by stakeholders.
1.1.

As early as the Barcelona Declaration of 1995 (1), economic and social organisations and civil society as a whole were highlighted as playing a key role in fostering the gradual construction in the Mediterranean of an area of peace and stability, shared prosperity, and dialogue between the cultures and civilisations of the various Mediterranean countries, societies and cultures. At present, civil society organisations in the Mediterranean are forums for inclusion, participation and dialogue with public authorities, including local authorities, with the aim of promoting economic, social and cultural rights in the Mediterranean region. The EESC considers it necessary to strengthen the role of ESCs where they exist and to encourage countries without ESCs to set them up by intensifying synergies between the various actors involved. In order to promote these rights, the ESCs and economic and social organisations need to develop partnerships so as to make them more realistic and effective.
I want to live in a Europe that gives valour to and protects all forms of culture… we want to avoid elitism and popularise culture…but also have the opportunity to create our own…’

Initiatives supported by charitable and philanthropic foundations have contributed significantly to preserving natural sites and supporting activities, often through social enterprises, which boost the development of rural areas in a sustainable manner. The Finnish Cultural Foundation supports research into measures to prevent agricultural residues affecting water quality in the Baltic Sea. It works with farmers believing that more biodiversity equals a richer landscape. Other charitable initiatives are welcome, such as the Wales Schools’ Cultural Heritage Trust which promotes inter-school cultural competitions involving young people in defining and delivering their choice of cultural activity ( 16 ) . One example, which enables young people to explore their cultural heritage, is the school in Piscu ( 17 ) , Romania, which is both a specialist heritage school and an organiser of workshops and conferences. The EESC, itself welcomed pupils from schools across Europe in March 2018 to discuss their cultural priorities under the ‘Your Europe, Your Say!’ banner ( 18 ) . They concluded, ‘. In Giffoni, a village in southern Italy, some 300 students prepared films and videos to promote their region.
4.5.

Currently, training requirements and provisions in many Member States are insufficient to adequately protect workers from the risks of asbestos. In principle, every worker in the construction industry runs the potential risk of encountering asbestos in the course of their work. According to the Directive on exposure to asbestos at work (Directive 2009/148/EC), every worker at risk needs training appropriate to the level of risk; however, this is not sufficiently reflected in the transposition into the domestic law of many Member States which are often limited to workers who are potentially exposed to high concentrations (e.g. asbestos removal/demolition). Member States are encouraged to review their respective transposition and practical implementation of the directive from the perspective of different risk groups, so as to improve the protection of all workers at risk of asbestos exposure.
3.3.

The full implementation of the Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) is needed across the Western Balkan region. Having signed and ratified the Convention, the majority of Western Balkan partners should intensify their work on allocating adequate public funding, coordinating policies and implementing practical measures to address any form of violence inflicted on women. In addition, the Commission is asked to prioritise the issue of domestic violence in the context of pre-accession funding both for civil society and for institutional capacity-building activities. The EESC calls on the Commission to encourage stronger regional cooperation on the exchange of best practices relating to domestic violence, beyond division between EU Member States and enlargement countries. In the context of enlargement, it is important that EU Member States present a positive model in this respect. Greater engagement and coordination between all actors from the public and private sector, and greater inclusion of NGOs, as collaboration between state services and NGOs is fundamental for the successful implementation of legislation and policy action in combatting all forms of violence against women.
4.8.

Finally, the EESC believes that investment should be made in continuous learning for European citizens so that they are prepared to face the continual changes occurring at this current moment in history. It is therefore essential to invest in training programmes that support entrepreneurial spirit and to offer self-organisation skills and tools from a young age, as well as skills that encourage a sense of initiative, creativity and the courage to take risks. At the same time, training and support policies will have to ensure that an ageing (with regard to what is now termed the ‘silver economy’) and dwindling — in a global context — European population can enjoy a good quality of life and that people can make an active contribution.