The 18th meeting of the EU-Montenegro Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), which took place in Podgorica today, sent a clear message to the EU institutions, that Montenegro is firmly committed to becoming the 28th member by 2028. The JCC members encouraged their organisations, the national authorities and the EU institutions to spare no efforts to accomplish the rule of law interim benchmarks. Obtaining the Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR) for the rule of law by June, will be a turning point in the EU accession process, enabling provisional closing of other chapters.
With geopolitical tensions rising and global economic ties and dependencies posing an array of severe risks to open economies, Europe needs to address its economic security. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) welcomes the proposal put forward by the Commission for a European Economic Security Strategy. However, the EESC underlines that the EU needs to strengthen its competitiveness, ensuring a well-functioning, more complete single market. At the same time, the Committee calls for EU businesses and other relevant civil society players to be involved in further developing and implementing this strategy.
Today, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) officially launched its initiative to welcome civil society representatives from EU candidate countries. A total of 131 'Enlargement Candidate Members' (ECM) were selected to make up the pool of civil society experts who will be participating in the Committee's work, thus making the EESC the first institution to open its doors to EU candidate countries. The initiative, a political priority of EESC President Oliver Röpke, sets new standards for involving candidate countries in EU activities, facilitating their progressive and tangible integration into the EU.
In the run-up to the EU-Western Balkans Summit, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) met with Montenegrin civil society on 7 December 2023 to take stock of the country's accession progress, and in particular its public administration reform. The participants raised concerns about the weakening capacity of the country's public administration to respond to the growing demands of the EU agenda. However, with the new government, there is a window of opportunity for the necessary reforms to move forward in the accession negotiations.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held the 9th edition of the Western Balkans Civil Society Forum on 19-20 October 2023, just a few weeks ahead of the European Commission's Enlargement Package and the New Growth Plan. The Forum signalled a renewed momentum for the region to join the EU, in view of the current geopolitical situation and a clear commitment of EU leaders to the enlargement policy. Representatives of Civil Society Organisations stressed the need for greater support and safeguarding of civic space to facilitate the essential socio-economic reforms required for EU integration.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls for more joint actions on EU Maritime Security Strategy and its Action Plan which aim at preserving EU sovereignty, security and competitiveness. The Committee supports the EU-NATO cooperation on maritime security and signals the importance of firm engagement with international partners to collectively tackle people smuggling and human trafficking.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) welcomed representatives from civil society organisations from candidate countries at its July plenary session, announcing the initiative to appoint Honorary Enlargement Members and invite them to participate in the daily advisory work of the Committee
On 12 June, the EESC launched its first event on fighting disinformation, kick-starting an awareness-raising campaign ahead of the European Parliament elections in 2024. The event, which gathered prominent figures from the civil society, media and youth organisations, highlighted the need for a more bottom-up approach with a strong civil society network countering disinformation on the ground. However, political awareness and solid legislative framework together with independent media are also crucial in the fight against fake news penetration.
Just one day before the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted a resolution calling for Ukraine's swift accession to the EU in full respect of enlargement principles. The EESC supports establishing a special international tribunal on crimes of aggression against Ukraine, and points out that support to civil society must continue for "as long as it takes".
At the February plenary session of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian democratic movement, called on the European institutions to support the Belarusian people in their fight against authoritarianism. Belarus must not be Putin’s consolation prize: it deserves to be part of the European family. This will only be possible with the active support of all EU institutions.
