EESC President Malosse in Warsaw to discuss the future of Services of general interest in the EU | WPN World People News

The EESC, together with the Minister for Labour and Social Policy of Poland, is organising an exchange of views on the role of the non-profit sector as a provider of social services of general interest on 11-12 March in Warsaw.

EESC President Henri Malosse suggested that as well as the regulatory role, the EU could also offer significant added value either by providing some of those services at European level, or at least by contributing to the Member States' provisions.

"Control of the external EU border, electricity and gas supply, the European volunteering service – these are concrete examples where the EU could help with coordinating and accumulating the resources of all the Member States, thus contributing to greater efficiency, higher quality and lower service prices for final consumers" stated President Malosse.

He also emphasised the importance of using the appropriate instruments. "The European foundation statute is one of the possible instruments and should be unblocked as soon as possible, but we should also think about innovative instruments for coordinated provision of public services by the EU and the Member States, or for providing supplementary services to those provided by the Member States".

The EESC also suggested launching, jointly with the European Commission, an impact assessment of the EU legislation on the subject.

Source: European Economic and Social Committee