ZPP Newsletter
Warsaw, 5 May 2021
EESC Activities Report no 3/21
Marcin Nowacki, President of the European Enterprise Alliance and Vice-President of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, and Tomasz Wróblewski, President of the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, are members of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), an EU advisory body which represents employers’ and employees’ organisations in the EU lawmaking process. We present a summary of their activities in March 2021.
On 24-25 March, the EESC plenary session held a debate with the participation of the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi on “‘Enhancing the accession process – A credible EU perspective for the Western Balkans“.
In addition, during the plenary session, the EESC discussed the trade policy challenges for economic recovery after the COVID-19 crisis with Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis.
On 1 March, Marcin Nowacki attended an extraordinary meeting of the EESC’s Employers’ Group with C During the debate, Members of the Employers’ Group expressed concern that in recent months new regulations had been adopted that would increase the bureaucratic burden for companies, especially for SMEs. According to the EESC, companies need less bureaucracy, not more. Commissioner Breton explained that the ‘one more, one less’ principle of symmetrically introducing and removing administrative burdens in the same policy area is only the beginning of reducing bureaucracy as part of the Better Regulation agenda.
Moreover, in March this year Marcin Nowacki participated in the meetings of the Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN), as well as the Section for External Relations (REX). The subject of the March meeting of the TEN Section was, among others, discussion of the Opinion on the single European Railway Area, as well as a debate on the Opinion on the report on the State of the Energy Union Report 2020 and Assessment of National Energy and Climate Plans.
Moreover, during the meeting of theREX section , section members discussed, among others, EU relations with the Western Balkans..
Regulatory activity
Tomasz Wróblewski is rapporteur for the EESC opinion on the European economic and financial system: fostering openness, strength and resilience. On March 26, the first study group meeting devoted to this topic took place.
Useful links
Marcin Nowacki has been appointed as a member of the EESC study group on roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union. The current Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 regulating the above matter will expire on 30 June 2022. The focus of the study group is to provide an opinion on the proposal to extend the validity of the regulation, as well as to adjust the maximum wholesale charges with a view to ensuring the sustainability of the service retail roaming services at domestic prices, introducing new measures to increase transparency and ensure that you are fully satisfied with using your telephone abroad as at home in terms of quality of service and access to roaming emergency services.
More information about the EESC
What is EESC?
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is an EU advisory body comprising representatives of employers’ and workers’ organisations and other interest groups. It issues opinions on EU issues to the European Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament, thus acting as a bridge between the EU’s decision-making institutions and EU citizens.
What does the EESC do?
It gives the interest groups a formal say on EU legislative proposals. Its three key tasks are to:
- Ensure that EU policy and law are reflect to economic and social conditions in the Member States.
- Engage in dialogue with employers’ and workers’ organizations from all member states.
- Promote European integration and participatory democracy.
What is the EESC composition?
The EESC has 329 Members from all EU Member States, who are appointed for a renewable five-year term of office. Members are nominated by national governments and appointed by the Council of the European Union. They are independent and perform their duties in the interest of all EU citizens. The number of Members per country is in proportion to the country’s population.
How does the EESC work?
The EESC is consulted by the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission on a variety of subjects. It also issues opinions on its own initiative.
Members work for the EU, independently of their governments. They meet 9 times a year. Opinions are adopted by a simple majority vote.
Meetings are prepared by the EESC’s specialized sections and the consultative commission on industrial change. The EESC’s specialist think-tanks (known as ‘observatories’) track the progress of EU strategies.
The EESC keeps in touch with regional and national economic and social councils throughout the EU – mainly to share information and discuss particular issues.
See: 05.05.2021 EESC Activities Report no. 3/21
