Brussels, 07/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 7 October, Georges Dassis was elected President of the European Economic and Social Committee from 2015 to 2018, when his watchword will be 'harmonising progress'.
The two vice-presidents of the EESC will be Michael Smyth (budget) and Gonçalo Lobo Xavier (communication).
“This mandate will be useful to the people of Europe, and will be devoted entirely to them. We intend to mobilise all the forces of civil society to make the European Union attractive and more present in the daily lives of Europeans. First, there is a need to alleviate extreme poverty and invest in youth employment, infrastructure projects, research and innovation (…). Europe must not be equated with a race to the bottom, but to the top. It must improve life for all citizens in the North, South, East and West: this is what we mean by harmonising progress”, said Georges Dassis (formerly President of the Workers' Group from 2008 to 2015).
The new President does not see the Union as a “given”, and went on to stress the gravity of the situation in which this Union currently finds itself. Instruments such as a European minimum income or taxation must be used to serve this purpose, he said. He called for the addition of an extraordinary investment plan for growth and employment, and the adoption of specific economic convergence measures (joint issuance of debt and temporary fund for eurobills). This Union needs to take in asylum seekers and put in place a new migration policy, based on the principles of solidarity and respect for human rights, Dassis argued, also stressing the need to fight traffickers through closer cooperation between member states. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)