European Economic and Social Committee

PRESS RELEASE No 49/2008 / 30 May 2008

European Economic and Social Committee

EESC OPEN DAY

Saturday, 7 June 2008, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

This year's Open Day will celebrate fifty years of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and highlight the role which the Committee has played since 1958 as a bridge between the European institutions and organised civil society. The Committee is inviting the public to a unique day out: a day to educate, inform and entertain. Visitors will have a chance to meet EESC members and experience for themselves this key centre of European participatory democracy.

A memorable programme of events is being planned this year, with games, guided tours and a wide range of entertainment of all kinds. This will be our opportunity to show you just what our work as a Committee entails.

Our stunning headquarters – the Jacques Delors building at 99 rue Belliard, Brussels – will be open from 10 a.m. offering a range of activities, with something for everyone, including:

  • entertainment and inventive games for our more daring visitors;
  • a classical-music DJ-performer;
  • a ball pool for toddlers and small children;
  • a rope bridge for you to cross; and
  • a chance to abseil from the 6th floor of the building.

Kids can have fun at a colouring workshop. Professional make-up artists will be on hand, alongside circus performers and a trio of musicians who will play from a wide and varied repertoire. Our guests can watch screenings of short, animated films. Families and friends can enjoy a game of skittles and visitors will also be able to send postcards all over Europe free of charge. There will be an interactive visitors' trail and a quiz, with a range of prizes and free drinks at the bar.

Lastly, to make this truly a day they will never forget, visitors can have their photograph taken against a retro 1958 backdrop – to mark the year the Committee was born.

For more details, please contact:
Karel Govaert at the EESC Press Office,
99 rue Belliard, B-1040 Brussels
Tel.: +32 2 546 9396/9586; Mobile: +32 475 75 32 02
Email:
Website:
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The European Economic and Social Committee represents the various economic and social components of organised civil society. It is an institutional consultative body established by the 1957 Treaty of Rome. Its consultative role enables its members, and hence the organisations they represent, to participate in the Community decision-making process. The Committee has 344 members, who are appointed by the Council of Ministers.