On the 25th of June, the Economic, Social and Environmental Council of France organized, with the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), a preparatory video conference for the annual meeting of the Presidents and Secretaries General of the national Economic and Social Councils of the EU and the EESC, scheduled for the 9th and 10th of September in Paris.

For CNEL the Vice President Elio Catania participated. In his speech he affirmed that: "the general weaknesses that emerged clearly during the pandemic must represent the occasion to redesign a new European space, immediately using the huge resources put in place to plan the restart. The fundamental need is that to join initiatives to support businesses and employment with a vision of social and environmental sustainability through new digital technologies, investments in the great infrastructural works, new rules for a more integrated and competitive European bank system, harmonization with fiscal asymmetries, enforcement and stabilization of the European Social Pillar, simplifying and speeding up the National and European decisional processes".

"The complexity and difficulty of this moment require a structured cooperation and a continuous confrontation between politics and the economic and social forces. The national ESCs of the EU and the EESC in Brussels represent the natural and institutional seat for this work, since they are an expression of the productive world, of the social partners, of the third sector and of civil society. Particular attention and monitoring must be dedicated to the actions put in place by governments so that resources reach citizens and businesses promptly".

In the conclusions, EESC President Luca Jahier mentioned the book recently published by CNEL 'The world to come. Interpreting and orientating development after the global health crisis', which contains concrete proposals for the phase 3 and stated that "the Paris event will represent a strong contribution to the launch of the Conference on the future of Europe, which opening session could be held just in September, in Strasbourg, and thus start an important season of citizens involvement and definition of proposals for important reforms for the future of the EU ".