On 28 October, Cillian Lohan (Ireland), who is a member of the Diversity Europe Group on the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), was appointed Vice-President of the committee, with responsibility for communication. Lohan, who is an advocate for the circular economy and CEO of the NGO Green Economy Foundation has been elected for a two-and-a-half year term, during which he plans to strengthen the committee’s collaborative work with the institutions of the European Union.
“I think we can improve the EESC’s connection with the EU institutions, in particular the Parliament and the Council”, he told EUROPE on Friday 27 November, at the same time expressing his satisfaction with the committee’s links with civil society.
His priority will therefore be to communicate EESC reports more effectively to the Council of the EU and particularly the Parliament, in order to increase the institution’s influence on the legislative process.
“We have a good connection with the Commission because every time we produce one of our reports, the Commission write a detailed response to our proposals. What we can do better in an institutional way is our connection with the Parliament especially”, he said.
Lohan draws his conclusions from personal experience: “During my first mandate, I was rapporteur for about 13 different opinions. For each of them, I have tried to go to the Parliament, to go to the relevant parliamentary committees, but also to the Council working groups, and I have seen a really positive impact. Some of my proposals have been mentioned in the conclusions of the Council and MEPs have expressed their wish to take up some of my proposals. So I know that it works, but I think that as an institution we can do better”.
He added: “I would like to see all our members to go to the Parliament's rapporteurs, the shadow rapporteurs, the Council's working groups, and to do that in a more formal way”.
European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform
Lohan is very committed to the environment, particularly the circular economy, and declared himself very satisfied with the work of the ‘European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform’, which he helped set up.
The platform was launched in March 2017 on the initiative of the Commission and the EESC, with the twin aims of facilitating the exchange of ideas between stakeholders working in the circular economy in Europe and building up an information database to help develop the circular economy.
Lohan believes this platform is of particular help to local authorities in drawing up roadmaps towards a circular economy. He said: “Even the Mayor of New York told me that they are using the Platform as a source of information and knowledge on the circular economy, but also as a model for designing a structure to ensure stakeholder engagement”.
Lohan described the new ‘Circular Economy Action Plan’ presented by the Commission on 11 March (see EUROPE 12444/1) as “very good”, although he would have preferred to see the actions in this strategy included in the previous plan.
He believes, however, that the EU should go further in eco-design, and in educating and providing formal training for businesses and consumers in the circular economy.
“It is absolutely necessary to avoid the circular economy being reduced to recycling, which was somewhat the case with the first action plan, because current recycling is a process that always leads to waste and energy losses. Moreover, this can lead citizens to consume even more, with the misconception that recycling is an optimal solution. In reality, the circular economy means the end of recycling as we know it”, he said. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)