Workshop EU-Oekraïne in het teken van de rol van het maatschappelijk middenveld in (en)

On 25-26 March 2010, in Kyiv, a workshop organised by the European Economic and Social Committee and the Ukrainian National Tripartite Social and Economic Council, will seek ways of ensuring an effective role for civil society in enforcing existing EU-Ukraine agreements. The workshop, under the title "EU-Ukraine relations: the role of the civil society. Industrial change and economic crisis in Ukraine", is the third joint event and follows up on the last meeting held over a year ago.

In his recent statement, the President of the External Relations Section of the EESC, Mr Filip Hamro-Drotz, underlined that relations with the EU Eastern Neighbours are of crucial importance for Europe and in this context, the EESC task is to build up good relations with the civil society of these countries. "We have a lot to offer to our partners in the Eastern Neighbourhood countries and we are determined to play an active role in strengthening and consolidating their civil society. We need to establish close cooperation with them and stimulate cross-border contacts. Ukraine is a good example of what we can achieve when working together and is a priority country for the EESC external relations", he said.

The participants of the workshop will be addressed by Ms Iryna Akimova from the Ukraine's President Office, Mr. Vasyl Nadraga, a newly appointed Minister of Labour and Social Policy of Ukraine, Mr. Oleksiy Myroshnychenko, representing Ukrainian Employers, Mr Vasyl Khara, representing Trade Unions of Ukraine, as well as the European Commission, Ukrainian NGOs and other international organisations' representatives.

The main objective of the workshop it to assess progress made in the ongoing EU-Ukraine negotiations and the civil society role in EU-Ukraine relations, especially their contribution to the monitoring and implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreements. Furthermore, the social consequences of economic crisis, developments in the area of social dialogue as well as the impact of economic crisis on the main industrial sectors will also be discussed.

The EESC is a consultative body advising the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. It consists of 344 members nominated from the EU member states from employers, employees and various interests groups of civil society.

The NTSEC was established in 2006 as an advisory and consultative body under the President of Ukraine. The NTSEC is composed of 66 representatives of the trade unions, employers’ organizations and the Ukrainian Government.

The workshop will be held on 25-26 March at Radisson SAS Hotel (Yaroslaviv Val 22, 02034, Kiev)

The working languages of the workshop will be English, French and Ukrainian.

For interested press:

Press is invited to attend the opening session of the workshop starting on 25 March at 9.00 a.m. till 10.00.a.m with the possibility to conduct interviews after the opening session.