Professions Category

In September 2017 the EESC formally constituted the "Liberal Professions" Category regrouping EESC members representing professional organisations or being professionals themselves. The category counts members coming from Member States covering the north, south, east and western areas of the European Union.

The category meets three times a year to monitor and discuss the latest political and legislative developments at European level affecting the exercise of the professions. Formerly this activity was carried out by Members within a category regrouping also members from the MSMEs and Crafts sectors. The decision to create a separate category for the liberal professions testifies the engagement to the very aim of the category: to make sure that the professions act upon a common ground ensuring that they reach their potential in the European Union in the coming years. In this respect the extraordinary meeting of the Civil Society Organisations' Group in Rome entitled "The Liberal Professions, a lever for the Development of Europe: towards a European Manifesto of Professionals" can be considered a founding stone for the activity of the category and a contribution to the working method of platforms to enable the European stakeholders to contribute to the process.

Every year the category organises the "Day of the Liberal Professions" focused on issues having a particular impact on the exercise of the professions, such as digitalisation and artificial intelligence.