Short Description of the 15Th Regional Seminar of the ACP-EU ECONOMIC and SOCIAL INTEREST

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1.Introduction

On the basis of the Cotonou agreement, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is mandated to organise consultation sessions and meetings of ACP-EU economic and social interest groups in order to voicethese actors'views on the ACP-EU partnership and foster cooperation between civil society organisations.

Within this framework, the EESC organises regional seminars every year in one of the ACP regions.

This year, the EESC is organising a regional seminar in Eastern Africa (Nairobi, Kenya) on4-5July 2016.

2.Topics

There will be 3 main topics of discussion:

a)Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Contribution of civil society. One year after the adoption of the SDGs, what is the architecture in place?How is civil society participating in their implementation?

b)The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and Eastern African States. Now that the agreement has been concluded and it's up for signature, how should civil society organisations be involved in their implementation, monitoring and evaluation?

c)The post-Cotonou agenda. What role for civil society? Before 2020 a new framework of cooperation between the EU and ACP countries will need to be agreed. Last year the European Commission launched a consultation process. Recently the EESC adopted an opinion on the Future of EU-ACP relations, and the European Parliament has started to debate the topic. ACP countries are also beginning to discuss and define their positions. Will there be fundamental and far-reaching changes to this relationship? What scenarios can be envisaged? And how can economic and social actors best influence this process?

At the end of the seminar, a final declaration will be issued that will be forwarded to the partners of the Cotonou agreement.

3.Participants

The EESC will invite representatives of economic and social actors as well as political authorities and international organisations.

3.1Economic and social interest groups:

Representativesof trade unions, employers' organisations, farmers' organisations, cooperative sector and NGOs from the following 5 countries of theregion:Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

3.2Institutional participants:

members of the European Economic and Social Committee

members of the EESC's ACP-EU Follow-up Committee representing ACP countries

representatives of the Government of Kenya

representatives of the European Union

representatives of economic and social councils from the region

representatives ofthe general secretariat of the group of ACP States

representatives of diplomatic corps

representatives of East African Community (EAC).

4.The European Economic and Social Committee

The EESC is an official EU advisory body, representing a wide range of European civil society organisations from all 28Member States. Its opinions are mainly addressed to the three EU decision-making institutions: the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission. In the field of External Relations, in addition to issuing opinions on EU relations with third countries, the EESC is in charge of fostering dialogue with civil society organisations from the countries and regions which are part of the EU's enlargement, development, trade and external policies.

The EESC is made up of representatives from employers (business associations), employees (trade unions) and a various interests group made up of farmers, consumers, academics, environmentalists, social economy representatives and others.

For more information you can contact:

Rafael Bellón Gómez, , +32 02/546.9095.

Previous ACP regional seminars organised by the EESC:

Website of the EESC:

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EESC-2016-03741-00-00-TCD-TRA (EN) 1/2