European Economic and Social Committee

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is a consultative body of the European Union founded in 1957, and it provides professional advice to the main EU institutions (European Commission, Council and European Parliament). The EESC represents the interests of various economic and social interest groups on the European level and it is considered to be a bridge between the institutions of the European Union and civil society. The EESC presents opinions on the proposed legislative acts of the European Union, as well as self-initiative opinions. It also promotes the values of participative democracy in the European Union and helps in strengthening the role of civil society organizations by joining the “structural dialogue”. This forum contributes to the consolidation of the EU democratic legitimacy and efficiency by enabling civil society organizations from the member countries to express their views on the European level.

EESC has three key missions:

• assistance in ensuring the EU politics and legislation reflect the real economic, social and social state;
• building of more participatory EU, closer to its citizens;
• promoting of EU values and the civil society organisations on the global level.

It consists of the following three groups: employers’ associations, unions and other civil society organizations (CSOs) which represent different interests. The EESC provides an institutional forum of organized civil society for representing, informing, expressing the views and securing dialogue. EESC representatives in the Republic of Croatia cooperate closely with the Council for the Civil Society Development in formulating the position of civil society at the EU level.

EESC has six sections for each area and one advisory committee:

• ECO Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO)
• INT Single Market, Production and Consumption
• TEN  Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society
• REX External Relations
• NAT Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment
• SOC Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship
• CCMI Consultative Commission on Industrial Change

More information is available on the European Economic and Social Forum:
EESC Homepage | EESC (https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en)

Part of the EESC web page has been translated into Croatian: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.hr.home