Agenda plenaire sessie EESC (en)

Following Croatia's entry to the EU on July 1 st, nine Croatian Members have taken their seats in the Committee and will take part in the plenary session and vote for EESC opinions for the first time.

Vytautas Landsbergis i, an MEP and former Head of State of Lithuania, will appear at the European Economic and Social Committee's plenary session on Wednesday, 2.30 pm, to discuss aspects of EU energy policy, foreign affairs and defence policy.

491 st EESC Plenary Session

10-11 July 2013

CHARL building (European Commission), room S3, Brussels

You can watch the plenary session live at: www.eesc.europa.eu

Other prominent guests attending the plenary session include Vincent Reuter , the President of the Economic and Social Council of Wallonia (Belgium), Tonio Borg , the European Commissioner for Health, and Philippe Cayla , the Chairman of Euronews Development.

Mr Reuter will hold a discussion with EESC Members on the role that economic and social councils could and should play in pulling Europe out of the crisis. Mr Borg will take part in a debate on the Committee's Opinion on the controversial Tobacco Directive. Mr Cayla will present the European citizen's initiative, "Let me vote", which he launched a year ago. The initiative seeks to reduce the democratic deficit by extending the voting rights of EU citizens living abroad to regional and national elections. Currently, EU citizens living in other Member States may only vote and stand for election in local and European elections.

Timetable

Address by Mr Vytautas Landsbergis - Wednesday 10 July, 2.30 p.m

Debate with Mr Vincent Reuter - Wednesday 10 July, 3.45 p.m

Adoption of an Opinion on the Tobacco Directive, with the participation of Commissioner Tonio Borg, Thursday 11 July, 9 a.m.

Presentation of the "Let me vote" initiative by Mr Cayla, Thursday 11 July, 11 a.m.

Key o pinions to be discussed and voted on at the plenary session include:

Manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products

The future of tobacco in the EU is currently under discussion. In its opinion, the EESC will respond to the European Commission proposal for a new Directive on tobacco which concerns labelling and packaging of tobacco products, additives and internet sales.

Economic potential of state-owned enterprises

Member states have been carrying out a variety reforms of state-owned enterprises (SOE), ranging from complete privatisation to improvements in efficiency. However, there is neither a comprehensive discussion nor analysis of SOE and their impact on the economy. The EESC wants to shed light on the specific contribution that SOE can make to the EU's competitiveness, taking into account not only economic profitability, but also contributions to citizens and private companies.

More needs to be done to promote "socially-useful" long-term investment

The European Commission's green paper on the long term financing of the European economy fails to recognise the need for greater "socially useful" long term investment, the EESC is likely to argue in its opinion. The green paper seeks to foster productive investment and spur the formation of long-lived capital. But the EESC feels that more consideration should be given to a co-ordinated use of capital gains tax allowances to incentivise longer-term shareholding by fund managers. In this context and in a bid to encourage greater long-term financial planning, the Committee is also expected to suggest creating low-tax personal saving products and a Eurozone i-wide savings vehicle with an interest rate premium, which could be hypothecated to wider social investment.

The role of civil society in EU-Serbia relations

With accession negotiations between Serbia and the EU soon to begin, the EESC has welcomed efforts by the Serbian government to keep reforms on course, but warns that greater civil society involvement is still needed. In its opinion, the EESC calls upon Serbian leaders and the EU institutions to step up their support of civil society organisations, particularly with regard to the rule of law, socio-economic cooperation and the fight against discrimination, corruption and organised crime. The EESC also recommends that a joint consultative committee be established between the EESC and Serbian civil society actors to improve dialogue during the negotiation process.

For more information, please contact:

EESC Press Unit

E-mail: press@eesc.europa.eu

Tel.: +32 2 546 8722

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The European Economic and Social Committee represents the various economic and social components of organised civil society. It is an institutional consultative body established by the 1957 Treaty of Rome. Its consultative role enables its members, and hence the organisations they represent, to participate in the EU decision-making process. The Committee has 353 members from across Europe, who are appointed by the Council of the European Union.

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