The European Economic and Social Committee’s steering committee on the EU’s Europe 2020 strategy met jointly today with representatives of the national economic and social councils in the member states. The EESC has been invited by the European Commission’s President, José Manuel Barroso, to coordinate relations with the national councils to ensure that organised civil society’s voice, at both European and member state level, is properly fed into the EU’s ongoing deliberations on how sustainable and inclusive growth can best be guaranteed. Understandably, the current crisis and austerity policies added a sharp edge to the discussions which revealed a broad consensus on the importance of ensuring employment-rich growth.