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.
I deeply regret that the President of the Employers' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee considered it advisable to publish immediately after the adoption by the plenary session of the opinion of the "European minimum income and poverty indicators "a "declaration and reaction "entitled "To address minimum income ? Yes, but at national level ".
Publication prepared for the TTIP Roundtable, organised by the Employers' Group on 16 December. The representatives of business from Europe and US present their views on Transatlantic Trade and Investement Partnership.
The European Economic and Social Committee has been an ardent supporter of the Eastern Partnership from the very outset and the EESC's Employers' Group has continually emphasised the need to strengthen the partnership's economic dimension. An appropriate tool was needed to enable the representatives of employers, entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises from the EU and its partner countries to meet and openly assess the process of convergence with the European acquis and its impact on the economic situation.
Presentation by Jesús Ferreiro (University of the Basque Country) on the occasion of the 20th LMO meeting on 6 June 2011 in Madrid, Spain
A lot has happened both in the EU and in the countries of its close neighbourhood since the EU-led Black Sea Synergy initiative providing scope for regional cooperation was launched (in 2008).
A lot has evolved since the last Black Sea NGO Forum took place.
What did not change however is a vital need for civil society active engagement and mobilization of all parts of our societies to act together.
Members' conclusions after the conference held in Vilnius on 25 October
The EU is highly dependent on energy resources. More than a half of EU energy consumption is linked to imports. Increasing instability in the Middle East together with the deterioration of EU-Russia relations mean that energy security will remain at the top of the EU's agenda in the coming years. How can we achieve a true energy union? How can interconnectivity be increased between Member States? What should the ideal energy mix look like and how can energy efficiency be increased within the EU? The publication summarises the debate that seeks answers to these questions.
On 30 and 31 March, 100 students and 39 teachers from all 28 EU Member States and the five EU candidate countries (Albania, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) met at the EESC in Brussels for “Your Europe, Your Say!” 2017. This year's theme was “Europe @ 60: Where to next?”.
Presentation by Lukasz Arendt (University of Lodz, Poland) on the occasion of the 20th LMO meeting on 6 June 2011 in Madrid, Spain
