Azië en de Stille Oceaan

This page is also available in:

In Azië onderhoudt het EESC betrekkingen met organisaties uit het maatschappelijk middenveld in China, Japan, Singapore, Zuid-Korea en Vietnam.

Een rondetafel van het maatschappelijk middenveld met China werd opgericht in 2007, na de negende EU-China-top, en komt eenmaal per jaar bijeen.

In februari 2009 is een follow-upcomité met Japan opgericht om toezicht te houden op de maatschappelijke dimensie van de betrekkingen tussen de EU en Japan en om de samenwerking tussen het EESC en het bedrijfsleven, werknemers-, milieu- en consumentenorganisaties en andere belangrijke maatschappelijke organisaties in Japan te bevorderen. In het kader van de economische partnerschapsovereenkomst tussen de EU en Japan is een interne adviesgroep EU-Japan opgericht, die het maatschappelijk middenveld in het kader van het hoofdstuk over handel en duurzame ontwikkeling een toezichthoudende en adviserende rol toebedeelt.

De EU heeft vrijhandelsovereenkomsten gesloten met de volgende Aziatische landen: Zuid-Korea (2011), Japan (2019), Singapore (2019) en Vietnam (2020). Deze overeenkomsten worden gekenmerkt door de opname van hoofdstukken over handel en duurzame ontwikkeling, en geven het EESC en andere maatschappelijke organisaties – samen met de organisaties van het maatschappelijk middenveld in de partnerlanden – een formele rol bij het toezicht op de tenuitvoerlegging ervan en bij het adviseren van de betrokken politieke autoriteiten op het gebied van maatschappelijke, milieu- en arbeidsnormen en andere zaken die van direct belang zijn voor het maatschappelijk middenveld. Een en ander gebeurt via de interne adviesgroepen (DAG’s). Elk jaar worden twee tot drie vergaderingen van de interne adviesgroepen van de EU gehouden, en eenmaal per jaar vindt een gezamenlijke vergadering plaats.

Het EESC legt daarnaast contacten met het maatschappelijk middenveld in andere Aziatische landen en bij relevante internationale evenementen, op ad-hocbasis.

  • Meeting of the EU-Japan and South East Asia Follow-up Committee

    The EESC EU-Japan & South-East Asia Follow-up Committee meets on 12 September 2023 to discuss various aspects of EU-Japan & South-East Asia relations. Main topics on the programme:

    • The EU and South=East Asia
    • Global overview and civil society in South-East Asia
  • The EU and the Japan Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs), established under the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapter of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), attended the 3rd EU-Japan Joint Dialogue with Civil Society, which took place in virtual format on 27 January 2022.

  • A DAG-to-DAG is a joint civil society body between the partner countries of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), bringing together the separate DAGs of each party. This is the 2nd joint meeting of the EU and Singapore DAGs under the EU-Singapore FTA.

  • This meeting was an excellent opportunity for a timely update by DG Trade on the implementation of the Trade and Sustainable Development Chapter under the FTA, as well as for a constructive exchange with the Director of the ILO office in Hanoi on the labour situation in Vietnam and the state of play of the roadmap.

    Additionally, Ambassador Vu Anh Quang, from the Vietnamese Mission to the EU, participated in an exchange with the EU Domestic Advisory Group (EU DAG) members to share his views on ongoing topics within the context of the EU Vietnam relations.

    The members of the EU DAG, which is composed of representatives of employers' organisations, trade unions and various interest groups, also further discussed its work programme and prepared the upcoming joint meetings with its Vietnamese civil society counterparts.

    On 28 May, nevertheless, after this EU DAG meeting and following the postponement of the joint EU-Vietnam meetings due to the fact that the Vietnam DAG had not been established yet, the members of the EU DAG issued a statement on the late cancellation of the first Trade and Sustainable Development Committee and the first Joint forum between European and Vietnamese civil society, which had been planned to take place in the first week of June 2021.

    Read the full statement here: https://europa.eu/!wm77KY

  • -
    Joint meeting

    The EU DAG and the Korea DAG met for the first time since 2018 to hold the 7th EU-Korea Civil Society Forum (CSF).

  • This was the first meeting of the EU Domestic Advisory Group (DAG), composed of representatives of employers' organisations, trade unions and various interest groups. At the meeting, the EU DAG received information from the European External Action Service (EEAS) on the EU relations with Vietnam and exchange with representatives of the European Commission's DG TRADE and the European Parliament on the implementation of the Trade and Sustainable Development chapter of the FTA. The EU DAG had also a first discussion on its work programme.

  • Virtual meeting via WEBEX

    The EESC EU-Japan Follow-up Committee will meet in the morning of 7 January 2021. It will discuss various aspects of EU-Japan relations and set its work programme for the first half of the new mandate.

  • The EESC EU-Japan Follow-up Committee met the morning of 17 July. Items for discussion on the agenda were: the EU-Japan Relations in the post COVID-19 era and  Research and innovation. In addition to this, the Follow-up Committee assessed the current mandate period and reflected on future perspectives.

  • (Hybrid WEBEX)

    During the meeting, the members of the Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) of the EU - composed of representatives of employers' organisations, trade unions and various interest groups -  followed up on the joint meetings with the Japanese counterparts that took place in Tokyo in January this year. They also discussed the work programme of the EU DAG and topics for future cooperation and dialogue.  Additionally, the members of the EU DAG exchanged views with representatives of the European Commission on matters related to the implementation of the trade and sustainable development chapter of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

     

  • During the meeting, the composition of the presidency was confirmed. The Group discussed its mandate, and proposed topics ahead of the 2019 Civil Society Forum. Moreover, the EU DAG discussed with representatives of the EC matters related to the implementation of the EU-Korea FTA under three pillars of sustainable development.