9th meeting of the EU-Montenegro Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee.
Westbalkan
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The EESC organised its Sixth Western Balkans Civil Society Forum in Sarajevo on 10-11 July 2017.
The main topics on the agenda were the role of civil society organisations in promoting sustainable growth and employment, migration in the Western Balkans, freedom of expression and media, as well as rights and empowerment of women.
It brought together a broad range of civil society representatives from the EU and the Western Balkans, as well as representatives of EU institutions, international organisations and governments of the region.
This years' meeting outside of Brussels was held on 2 June 2016 in the Delegation of the European Union in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and included a hearing with the civil society organisations (CSOs).
The goal of this hearing was for our Western Balkans Follow-up Committee to listen to the views on the role of civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to convey these messages to the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the political authorities of the EU. The following topics were discussed at the hearing: social dialogue and civil dialogue, the state of the economy and the labour market, the participation of civil society organisations in the EU's enlargement process and in the implementation of the Reform Agenda 2015 – 2018, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This hearing is a step towards the 6th Western Balkans Civil Society Forum to be held in 2017.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), representing the economic and social interests of organised civil society in the European Union (EU), has strongly and consistently supported the enlargement of the European Union to the six Western Balkans countries provided they fulfil all the necessary criteria for membership.
As the role and the voice of the civil society are vital for making any tangible progress on issues and values at the very core of the European Union, the EESC made the present declaration as its contribution to the political leaders participating to the Western Balkans Summit on 6 May 2020.
The EU Neighbourhood, especially the candidates and potential candidates for EU accession, is at the very top of the priority list for the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) with regard to external relations.
Final declaration - 7th WESTERN BALKANS CIVIL SOCIETY FORUM
The European Union and the Western Balkans have a shared interest in working more closely together to guarantee all our citizens economic and social development, as well as security. The future of the region is a European future. The EU and the Western Balkans economies have benefited from closer integration as trade doubled in the last 10 years. The EU is today the first trading partner of the region, the biggest investor and the most credible and reliable political and geostrategic partner.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has developed a dual approach, regional and bilateral, for its relations with civil society organizations (CSOs) of the Western Balkans.
Croatia and the whole Western Balkan region appear very high on the agenda of external relations of the EESC. We run quite a wide range of activities with the various countries of the Western Balkan region: we issue opinions, operate together with our partners in the Joint Consultative Committees, and since 2006 we also come together to specific Civil Society Forums with representatives of the organised civil society from the entire Western Balkan region. The representatives from Croatia have very actively taken part in these events and have shared their experience with the other participants.