16th Annual Meeting of Small Islands

On 27 September, the 16th Annual meeting of the small islands network (ESIN) took place in the premises of the European Economic and Social Committee. During the meeting the participants had the opportunity to discuss about the small islands' sustainability but also about the climate agenda beyond 2020, by addressing mitigation and adaptation to climate change impacts. Moreover, during the workshops, the participants focused on the economic dimension of sustainability by studying the labelling of products from the islands.

Georges Dassis initially referred to the EESC's commitment to convey the voice of the civil society to the decision makers. Moreover, he mentioned that the economic and social cohesion, which constitute one of the basic principles of the EU, should be guaranteed in the small islands in order to ensure the continuity of investments, innovation, growth and job creation.

To conclude, president Dassis expressed his willing to reinforce the voice of the Small Islands Network as an action of solidarity, a notion that was forgotten in the EU during the previous years of the economic crisis.