Europeiska ekonomiska och sociala kommittén
Freedom of expression and the media remains a serious concern in Montenegro. The last meeting of the EU-Montenegro Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) took place in Brussels on 19 December. The JCC's members discussed the current state of play and the work ahead in Montenegro's accession negotiations to the EU and adopted a final declaration. ...
Adoption of a youth declaration addressed to the AU-EU Summit
A new impetus in relations between the EU and the AU based on a major role for socio-economic stakeholders
The EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform (CSP) held its 5th meeting in Kyiv on 15 November. In its final declaration, the members welcomed the full entry into force of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement as of September 2017, and called upon the EU and the Ukrainian government to ensure its complete and timely implementation.
The 2nd meeting of the EU-Chile Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) supported the proposal to negotiate the modernisation of the EU-Chile Association Agreement, noting the importance of consulting civil society.
At one among remarkably few such events, the EESC provided an occasion for civil society organisations to share their views on the agreement in principle for an Economic Partnership between the EU and Japan, reached in July 2017.
Taxation policy should be more prominent in European development policy, says the EESC
More than 120 participants took part in the 9th Meeting of European Union, Latin American and Caribbean organised civil society, which took place on 3rd and 4th October in Panama City.
The last meeting of the EU-Serbia Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) took place on the 3 October in Belgrade. The JCC's members discussed the current state of play and the work ahead in Serbia's accession negotiations to the EU. Since the last JCC meeting, Serbia has opened Chapter 7 (Intellectual property law) and Chapter 29 (Customs union), which brings the number of chapters open to ten. The JCC encouraged the Serbian authorities to continue working on ensuring the respect for the rule of law, fundamental rights, judicial reform and the fight against corruption. ...
The European Economic and Social Committee and the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation held their seventh joint seminar in Brussels on 27 September 2017. Both sides highlighted that civil society has an instrumental role to play in contributing to sustainable economic, social and cultural development, democracy and human rights, and fostering people-to-people contacts – one of the guiding principles underpinning the EU's engagement with Russia.
A structured form of dialogue with organised civil society is essential for successful negotiations, says the EESC
Europe and its Member States are the main investor in Latin American and Caribbean countries and their most significant cooperation partner. In fact, the countries of Latin America and Caribbean are the EU's second largest trading partner - together, the EU and CELAC account for around 25% of global GDP.
