The EESC's engagement with civil society organisations in Russia is governed by the five guiding principles for EU-Russia relations agreed between EU foreign ministers and the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. One of these guiding principles is "support for people-to-people contacts".
Dialogue and the exchange of experiences between civil society representatives from the EU and Russia contribute in a significant way to the continued implementation of the EU-Russia Strategic Partnership. The EESC has adopted a two-stranded approach to its relations with Russian civil society in order to engage with as wide a range of civil society representatives as possible. On the one hand, it maintains relations with the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, its official Russian counterpart, and organises – amongst other things – annual joint seminars on topics of interest to civil society on both sides. The EESC's other partner is the EU-Russia Civil Society Forum, which brings together a different set of civil society organisations.
The EU-Russia Follow-up Committee is an internal EESC body, which acts as a steering group, and is responsible for developing and maintaining relations and organising meetings and joint seminars with civil society in Russia.
The role of trade as a generator of growth and jobs is undeniable, but public perception of the further liberalisation of trade is getting worse and citizens' concerns must be addressed far more effectively than before. This was one of the conclusions of the conference on "Strengthening European Growth and Competitiveness: Proactive Trade Agenda – NOW!" that took place in Helsinki on 26 October.
The role of trade as a generator of growth and jobs is undeniable, but public perception of the further liberalisation of trade is getting worse and citizens' concerns must be addressed far more effectively than before. This was one of the conclusions of the conference on "Strengthening European Growth and Competitiveness: Proactive Trade Agenda – NOW!" that took place in Helsinki on 26 October. Jacek Krawczyk, President of the EESC Employers' Group, added: It is our responsibility to advocate for trade; we cannot take it for granted that people understand what the benefits ...
"The European Economic and Social Committee considers that the participation of Roma at all stages of decision-making is essential for achieving effective policies that can make a real difference to their situation within the EU. However, the tools available today are not sufficient in this regard"
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 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 ...
33 schools from across Europe selected to come to Brussels to discuss migration
After the COP21 in Paris came up with a number of financial commitments by all sorts of national and international donors, EU and African socio-economic stakeholders gathering in Nairobi called for better information on and access to climate-mitigation funding. Members of ...
33 schools from across Europe to come to Brussels to discuss the future of the EU. Today the EESC selected the schools which will be participating in this year's edition of Your Europe Your Say!, its flagship event for youth. In 2017, the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome will be the theme of the Committee’s annual "Your Europe, Your Say!" youth event, offering young people from around Europe the opportunity to share their ideas about the EU of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
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 ...
According to Eurostat figures, in May 2016 there were 4,197 million unemployed young people (18.6%) in the EU-28. Although an improvement on the previous year (20.3%), the figure remains appalling and shows that the threat of a "lost generation", which has loomed large since the beginning of the economic and financial crisis, is still hanging dangerously over Europe. Despite this, businesses across the EU are struggling to find young people with the skills they need.
