Governance

Based on the evaluation of previous research and other documents, stakeholder interviews and consultation as well as an online survey, this report drafts possible futures of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).
The EESC is confronted with multiple challenges, including an uncertain future relevance of the EU and acceptance of the “Project Europe” by citizens, socioeconomic transformation processes and new participation possibilities as well as a changed structure of civil society. Against this, questions of representation and legitimacy as well as of impact and added value of the Committee must be asked.

This book analyses the structural and short-term causes of Latin America´s crisis and build scenarios of alternative post-pandemic trajectories. The authors show that the optimal scenario requires a Great Turn of fundamental transformations to build full democratic governance and move towards a sustainable future.
By Sergio BITAR, Jorge Máttar, Javier Medina.

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – 2020 Strategic Foresight Report – Strategic foresight – Charting the course towards a more resilient Europe

The current COVID-19 pandemic will change the world, like the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 9/11 terror attacks. For the foreseeable future, EU governments will be preoccupied with dealing with the pandemic’ immediate socio-economic consequences. However, other policy areas will be affected as well. With regard to the EU’s security and defence policy, COVID-19 is likely to extinguish the unprecedented dynamism that has characterised its development since 2016. Its most immediate impact is likely to be decreased funding for several new initiatives such as the European Defence Fund. The pandemic is also likely to reduce the EU’s readiness to address crises in its neighbourhood and may hasten the Union’s relative decline as a global power if its recovery is slow and wrought by prolonged disputes between the member states over the appropriate economic response to the crisis. Yet, the EU should not completely abandon its pre-COVID-19 security and defence agenda. Both during and after the pandemic, the Union will continue to face familiar challenges such as cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns and instability in its neighbourhood.