The first Cork Declaration, adopted on 9 November 1996, forthrightly requested "a fairer balance" of public spending and investments between rural and urban areas. In the new Cork 2.0 Declaration adopted on 6 September 2016, there is only one concrete proposal with the potential to have a meaningful impact: the so called "rural proofing" whose aim would be to "systematically review other macro and sectorial policies through a rural lens".
The 3rd meeting of the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform will take place on 8-9 November 2016 in Kyiv. During the meeting, a debate will be held assessing the state of play in the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, and two reports, prepared by both sides, will be discussed and adopted – on labour market regulation with a focus on the adaptation of Ukrainian labour legislation to the EU legislation, and on anti-discrimination legislation and practice with regard to the rights of vulnerable groups in the context of the Association Agreement. A Joint Declaration will beadopted at the end of the meeting to be forwarded to the EU-Ukraine Association Council, the Association Committee, the Parliamentary Association Committee and other relevant bodies both in Ukraine as well as in the EU.
The round-table is organized by the EESC's Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (CCMI) in partnership with the European Commission as well as with relevant European – Euromines, Euracoal, IndustriAll Europe – and national organisations.
For the 8th time, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and Montenegro held the Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) in Budva, Montenegro.
This meeting tackled following issues: Assessment of the state of play in Montenegro accession negotiations to the EU, Chapter 28 of the accession negotiations – with focus on Consumer protection and Debate on the situation of young people on the labour market.
The aim of the conference was to obtain a better grasp of the role civil society has to play in energy security and the transition to renewable energy at both national and regional levels. The challenge is to channel civil society involvement and expertise towards creating more links, partnerships and dialogue between local, national and regional players.
Since 1992, the LIFE programme (L'Instrument Financier pour l'Environnement) has been the main European funding source for the protection of nature, resource efficiency and awareness-raising actions around the environment. In 2017, the European Commission will issue a mid-term evaluation of the LIFE programme over the 2014-2020 period. One of the objectives is in particular to start discussing the first perspectives for LIFE after 2020. This evaluation will particularly look at the impact, effectiveness and relevance of the programme's investment, taking into account the new features introduced in 2014. The EESC, along with the European Committee of the Regions, are closely involved in this process: the EESC will contribute with an exploratory opinion.
The EESC Employers' Group is organising a seminar on "Strengthening European Growth and Competitiveness: Proactive Trade Agenda – NOW!" taking place on 26 October in Helsinki and jointly organized with the Confederation of Finnish Industries and the International Chamber of Commerce, ICC Finland.
Trade and Investment are hugely important for the EU: 1 in 7 EU jobs depend on exports. The EU cannot risk falling behind in the global race to build a wide and ambitious network of free trade agreements. The signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement (involving 12 countries and 40% of world GDP) is a timely reminder of this. This seminar, which will be attended by many of our Members together with Finnish employers and entrepreneurs, politicians and academics aims to examine how to best contribute positively to the debate as trade agreements (TTIP - TISA - CETA - EU-JAPAN) increasingly become a top political issue.
This hearing on the CAP post-2020 was organised jointly by the Agriculture and Forestry Committee of the Finnish Parliament and the NAT section of the EESC. The 2013 reform of the CAP is currently being implemented and the CAP simplification exercise is also underway. The EESC wants to be proactive in preparing for the next reform of the CAP which relates to the period after 2020. It was of utmost importance to make an in-depth analysis of the current CAP and the result of the previous reform.
During the meeting, the representatives of the European External Action Service (EEAS) will present information about the EU relations and cooperation with Colombia and Peru. The EU DAG Chair will inform the Group about the outcomes of the civil society meeting organized in Bogota on 6 October 2016 with a view of establishing the Colombian DAG. Moreover, the Commission representative will provide information about the Ecuador's accession to the Agreement, as well as about preparations for the next meeting with Colombia and Peru under the Trade and Sustainable Development Title planned for 7-8 December in Brussels. The Group will hold then an internal debate to choose topics for the meeting with Colombia and Peru and to organize cooperation with civil society in both countries
The Euromed Summit brings together some 120 participants from a range of economic and social councils, or similar institutions, representatives of employers, trade unions, other economic and social interests groups and NGOs from countries which are members of the Union for the Mediterranean.
This year, the exchange will focus on the following topics:
• Promotion of legal migration
• Women participation in labour force and women's entrepreneurship
• Organised civil society and climate change in the view of the COP22
• The coordination of social protection systems
As on previous occasions, the meeting will conclude with the adoption of a final declaration.
