Brussels, 10/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) plenary session will be meeting on Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 March in Brussels, under the chairmanship of Staffan Nilsson. Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier will attend.
On Tuesday, at 3.00pm, President Barroso will speak of the prospects of implementing the EU 2020 strategy with European economic and social councillors, who should adopt a resolution on uprisings in the southern Mediterranean countries just prior to this. At 5.00pm, Michel Barnier will take part in a thematic debate on the stakes and prospects of the Single Market Act. In this context, the EESC will hear, and adopt, the opinion by Rapporteur Benedicte Federspiel (Various Interests, Denmark), and by the co-rapporteurs, Martin Siecker (Employees, NL) and Ivan Voles (Employers, Czech Republic).
Furthermore, members of the EESC will examine (with a view to adoption): 1) two exploratory opinions at the behest of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers: the first on consumers and cross-border possibilities within the internal market (Rapporteur Jorge Pegado Liz, Various Interests, Portugal), and the second on energy supply, looking at the question of what kind of neighbourhood policy is needed to ensure EU energy supply security (Rapporteur Edgardo Maria Iozia, Employees, Italy); 2) an exploratory opinion at the request of the European Commission on the future of the European Social Fund after 2013 (Rapporteur Xavier Verboven, Employees, Belgium and Co-Rapporteur Miguel Angel Cabra de Luna, Various Interests, Spain); and 3) an own initiative report concerning annual examination of growth with the prospect of a complete response to the crisis (steering committee, EUROPE 2020) (Rapporteur Leila Kurki, Employees, Finland; Co-Rapporteur Mihai Manoliu, Employers, Romania).
For the complete agenda of the plenary session, see: http://www.eesc.europa.eu (G.B./transl.jl)