Christa Schweng, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and Dimitris Dimitriadis, President of the Section for External Relations (REX)
Organisation
European Economic and Social Committee
Statement by ChristaSchweng, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and DimitrisDimitriadis, President of the Section for External Relations (REX)
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".
The recommendations of the opinion will provide guidelines to the other EU institutions, especially to the Commission, on how to better support Turkish civil society organisations and improve their working conditions.
Download — Situation of civil society organisations in Turkey
