EU Council conclusions on Belarus

Civil society and non-governmental organisations play a crucial role, within their societies, in providing policy input, following new initiatives and in holding governments accountable. They can be active actors in promoting democratic and market-oriented reforms based on shared values, i.e. respect for democracy and human rights, the rule of law, good governance, principles of market economy and sustainable development. These are also the values and objectives of the European Neighbourhood Policy, including the newly created Eastern Partnership.

In its Communication of December 2008 the Commission proposed “to support the further development of Civil Society Organisations” (CSOs) and, in particular, “to establish an Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (CSF) to promote contacts among CSOs and facilitate their dialogue with public authorities”.

To ensure transparency of the process leading to the establishment of the Forum, all interested parties were invited to provide their opinion. The consultation process ended in April 2008. Some 40 contributions were received, mainly from civil society organisations based in the Eastern Partner countries but also from several EU-based organisations. A reasoned analysis of the contributions received can be found under Results of the consultations with CSOs and NGOs  .

In the Eastern Partnership joint declaration, the Prague Declaration, from 7 May 2009, “the participants of the Prague Summit invited the European Commission to develop and propose modalities for the establishment of a Civil Society Forum of the Eastern Partnership”. The Commission proposed the following Concept-paper .

On June 29 the Commission invited all interested parties, i.e. grass roots organisations, trade unions, employers' organisations, professional associations, NGOs, think-tanks, non-profit foundations, national and international CSOs/networks and other relevant Civil Society actors, to submit their Expressions of interest to participate in the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum  .

Results

Altogether 439 expressions of interests were received before the deadline extended to 3 September. This demonstrates considerable interest of Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership initiative. A short analysis of the results, description of the selection process and of the next steps leading to the first gathering of the Civil Society Forum on 16-17 November in Brussels can be found here  .

Source

Civil society and non-governmental organisations play a crucial role, within their societies, in providing policy input, following new initiatives and in holding governments accountable. They can be active actors in promoting democratic and market-oriented reforms based on shared values, i.e. respect for democracy and human rights, the rule of law, good governance, principles of market economy and sustainable development. These are also the values and objectives of the European Neighbourhood Policy, including the newly created Eastern Partnership.

In its Communication on 3rd of December 2008 on the Eastern Partnership (EaP) - a new multilateral framework of cooperation, addressed to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine - the European Commission underlined that “ongoing reforms [in these countries] require stronger participation of civil society to enhance oversight of public services and strengthen public confidence in them.” In this context “particular attention should be paid to the involvement of civil society” in the EaP initiative.

The Commission proposed “to support the further development of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)” and, in particular, “to establish an Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum to promote contacts among CSOs and facilitate their dialogue with public authorities”. The Commission invited “the European Economic and Social Committee to participate in the Civil Society Forum”.

Declaration by The European Council on The Eastern Partnership