Europa

The 7th meeting of the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform took place on 3-5 April 2019 in Lviv in Ukraine. During the meeting, a debate was held assessing the state of play of the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. And two reports, prepared by both sides, on the rights of trade unions and employees and on ensuring food security were discussed.

The EU-Turkey Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee was established in 1995, based on the mandate given by the Ankara Agreement. This body is composed of members from the EESC and members representing organised civil society in Turkey. Its objective is to contribute to the dialogue among civil society organisations in Turkey and the EU and to issue reports and recommendations to the Turkish authorities and the EU institutions.

The discussions at this JCC meeting will include the EU-Turkey relations and the meeting will focus in particular on "Trade development and investment environment for SMEs - Opportunities between the EU and Turkey" and "Civil society organisations, including the social partners, and Turkey-EU Accession Process". Other topics on the programme are "The modernisation of the EU-Turkey Customs Union" and "The visa dialogue".

Representatives of the European and Georgian Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs), set up under the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Georgia, held their fourth joint meeting in Brussels on 26 March 2019. The participants followed-up on the implementation of the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter of the Association Agreement.

The meeting of the Section for External Relations will take place on 24 May 2019 in the room JDE 62. During this meeting, a special attention will be given to the 25th anniversary of the European Economic Area.

The 5th meeting of the EU-Georgia Domestic Advisory Group took place on 18 March 2019 in Brussels. Please click on the programme tab to consult the topics on the agenda.

The 27th meeting of of the European Economic Area Consultative Committee took place in the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels (Belgium) on 23-24 May 2019.

The members of the Committee discussed the latest developments in EEA and well as EU/EFTA issues. Special attention has been given to the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the EEA Agreement. The Consultative Committee adopted two resolutions on the following topics:

• The European Labour Authority
• Benefits of 25 years of the EEA Agreement for the EEA countries

For the 12^th time, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and Montenegro held the Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee (JCC). The JCC is a civil society platform established between the EESC and Montenegrin civil society. It complements with a civil society point of view the EU institutional framework related to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Montenegro. This joint institution allows civil society organisations on both sides to monitor the country's accession negotiations. It is also a platform to discuss issues of common interest and to inform the public at large on the challenges ahead during the accession period.

This 12^th JCC was held in Brussels and tackled the following issues:

• The current state of play in EU-Montenegro relations and the accession process
• Chapter 3: Right of establishment and freedom to provide services
• Chapter 24 : Justice, freedom and security, with a special focus on migration
• Overview of the civil society in Montenegro

A joint declaration was adopted at the meeting. The joint declaration is distributed to all relevant EU institutions, as well as to the Montenegrin authorities.

The Civil Society Platform complements the political bodies existing within the framework of the EU-Moldova Association Agreement, and it allows civil society organisations from both sides to monitor the implementation process and prepare their recommendations to the relevant authorities both in the Republic of Moldova as well as in the European Union. At this fourth meeting, participants discussed Human rights and democratic institutions in Moldova.