Vecinos del Este
Las actividades del CESE en relación con los países de la vecindad oriental incluyen a Armenia, Azerbaiyán, Bielorrusia, Georgia, Moldavia y Ucrania. El principal objetivo del CESE con respecto a los «Vecinos del Este de Europa» tiene por objeto mejorar las relaciones con las organizaciones de la sociedad civil en la región y hacer que participen en un diálogo con sus responsables políticos nacionales y con la sociedad civil organizada de la UE.
Los principales mecanismos de cooperación con Georgia, Moldavia y Ucrania son las plataformas de la sociedad civil, que complementan los órganos políticos que existen en el marco de los Acuerdos de Asociación de la UE con estos países. Las plataformas permiten a las organizaciones de la sociedad civil tanto de la UE como de los países socios en cuestión supervisar el proceso de aplicación y preparar sus recomendaciones destinadas a las autoridades pertinentes.
Por parte de la UE, estas plataformas están integradas por miembros del CESE, así como representantes de grandes redes europeas de la sociedad civil. Por parte de los países socios, representan a un amplio espectro de organizaciones de la sociedad civil. La composición de las plataformas se basa en una representación equilibrada de todos los grupos de interés (organizaciones de empresarios, sindicatos y grupos de actividades diversas).
El Comité de Seguimiento para los Vecinos del Este de Europafue creado en 2004 como un órgano específico encargado de las relaciones con la sociedad civil de los países de la vecindad oriental. El Comité de Seguimiento se suele reunir cuatro veces al año y sus miembros participan activamente en las actividades relacionadas con la Asociación Oriental, tales como las plataformas multilaterales de la Asociación Oriental y el Foro de la Sociedad Civil de la Asociación Oriental.
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Cohesion policy is key to overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and to reducing disparities in Europe. Its most serious challenge for the foreseeable future, however, is the war in Ukraine, the EESC cautions in a recent opinion. Rapid action is needed to help refugees and ensure the country's European integration.
The situation of civil society in Belarus following the presidential elections in August 2020 and the huge level of repression, as well as the tragic fate of the people in Afghanistan, show that the EU has to speak up with one voice in the geopolitical arena.
On 26 September, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) approved an own-initiative opinion to mark the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership (EaP). In this opinion, the EESC acknowledges the important achievements of this initiative, but also calls for further reforms in the areas of democratisation and fundamental freedoms. The opinion insists on the need to strengthen the role of civil society and to provide credible EU membership prospects to EaP states.
The 3rd meeting of the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform (CSP) held in Kyiv on 8-9 November focused on labour market regulation and antidiscrimination legislation and practices in Ukraine, as well as reviewed the progress of the reforms undertaken within the Association Agreement process. The civil society organisations of the EU and Ukraine strongly called for the EU Member States to push, with all necessary political and economic means, for the restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, establishing peace and solving the humanitarian problems of the residents of these and adjoining territories. Opening the meeting, Alfredas Jonuška ...
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) hosted a high-level conference on 5 September to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership.
Georgia has the best track record in freedom of media among the Eastern Partnership countries, but nevertheless sustained efforts are called for in order to raise the standard of journalistic quality, objectivity and ethics, as well as secure their independence and sources of financing. This was one of the main messages of the EU-Georgia Civil Society Platform (CSP)'s second meeting held on 16th February at the EESC. The Platform also made recommendations for the Georgian government to ...
The 1st and inaugural meeting of the EU-Georgia Civil Society Platform (CSP) was held on 16th June 2016 in Tbilisi and was co-chaired by Andrzej Adamczyk, member of the EESC, and Kakha Gogolashvili, chairman of the Georgian National Platform at the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum. The participants in the first CSP meeting adopted a joint declaration, assessing the state of play of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement's implementation and acknowledging the considerable progress achieved by Georgia since the beginning of the Association process. Nevertheless, they called ...