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Brussels, 28 May 2013

MINUTES
of the 25th meeting
of the
Liaison Group
with European civil society organisations and networks
held at the Committee building in Brussels
on 7 March 2013
______

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The Liaison Group with European civil society organisations and networks held its 25th meeting in Brussels on 7March 2013, under the joint chairmanship of Staffan Nilsson, president of the EESC, and Jean-Marc Roirant, president of the European Civic Forum (ECF). The meeting started at2.30p.m. and finished at around 4.45 p.m.

ATTENDANCE LIST

  • Members of the Liaison Group present

EESC representatives

Mr Staffan Nilsson
Mr Sandy Boyle
Mr Luca Jahier
Mr Henri Malosse
Mr Michael Smyth
Mr Hans-Joachim Wilms / President of the EESC
President of the REX section
President of Group III
President of Group I
President of the ECO section
President of the Sustainable Development Observatory (SDO)

Representatives of European civil society organisations and networks

Members

Mr Jean-Marc Roirant
Mr Olivier Consolo
Ms Arielle Garcia
Mr Luca Bergamo
Ms Gabriella Civico
Mr Diogo Pinto
Mr Giuseppe Porcaro
Mr Conny Reuter
Mr Jan Robert Suesser
Mr Luk Zelderloo / President of the European Civic Forum (ECF)
Director of the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development (CONCORD)
Deputy director of the Federation of French Mutual Health Insurance Schemes (FNMF)
Secretary-General of Culture Action Europe
Director, The European Volunteer Centre (CEV)
Secretary-General of the International European Movement (IEM)
Secretary-General of the European Youth Forum (EYF)
President of the Platform of European Social NGOs
Vice-President of the European Civic Forum (ECF)
Secretary-General of the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD)

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Alternates

Ms Carlotta Besozzi
Mr Patrice Collignon
Ms Emmanuelle Faure
Ms Audrey Frith / Director, European Disability Forum (EDF)
Director of the Rurality-Environment-Development International Association (RED)
European Affairs Senior Officer, European Foundation Centre (EFC)
Director, European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong Learning (EUCIS-LLL)
  • Members of the Liaison Group absent

EESC representatives

Mr Stéphane Buffetaut
Mr Mario Campli (apologies received)
Mr Bryan Cassidy
Mr Georgios Dassis (apologies received)
Mr Edgardo Iozia
Ms Leila Kurki (apologies received)
Mr Joost van Iersel (apologies received)
Mr Krzysztof Pater (apologies received)
Mr Jorge Pegado Liz (apologies received) / President of the TEN section
President of the NAT section
President of the INT section
President of Group II
President of the Single Market Observatory (SMO)
President of the SOC section
President of the Europe 2020 Steering Committee
President of the Labour Market Observatory (LMO)
President of the CCMI

Representatives of European civil society organisations and networks

Members

Mr Pierre Barge (apologies received)
Ms Cécile Gréboval
Ms Monique Goyens
Mr Christopher Harrison
Mr Mogens Kikerby
Ms Monika Kosinska
Mr Maciej Kucharczyk
Mr Gérard Peltre
Mr Étienne Pflimlin
Mr Gerry Salole
Ms Agnes Uhereczky / Honorary President of the European Association for Human Rights (EAHR)
Secretary-General, European Women's Lobby (EWL)
Director-General of the European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC)
Former president of the European School Heads Association (ESHA)
President of the International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA)
Secretary-General of the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)
Director-General of the European Older People's Platform (AGE)
President of the Rurality-Environment-Development International Association (RED)
Co-president of Cooperatives Europe
Director-General of the European Foundation Centre (EFC)
Director of the Confederation of Family Organisations in the EU (COFACE)

Alternates

Ms Oonagh Aitken
MsSerap Altinisik (apologies received)
Mr Julien Dijol
Ms Annemie Drieskens
Ms Sabine Frank
Ms Jana Hainsworth
Mr Dirk Jarré
Mr Gérard Leseul
Mr Peter Matjašič
Ms Alexandrina Najmowicz
Ms Ursula Pachl
Mr Christian Wenning / Director, (CSV) Community Service Volunteers, member of the Volonteurope Management Board
Policy Officer, European Women's Lobby (EWL)
Policy coordinator, European Liaison Committee for Social Housing (CECODHAS)
President of the Confederation of Family Organisations in the EU (COFACE)
Secretary-General of the Platform for Intercultural Europe
Secretary-General of Eurochild
International Cooperation Officer, European Federation of Older People (EURAG)
Deputy general delegate, Coordinating Committee of European Cooperative Associations (CCACE)
Secretary-General of the European Youth Forum (EYF)
Coordinator, European Civic Forum (ECF)
Deputy director-general of the European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC)
Secretary-General of the Union of European Federalists (UEF)
  • EESC secretariat

Mr Martin Westlake
Mr Nicolas Alexopoulos
Mr Patrick Fève
Mr Christian Weger
Ms Coralia Catana
Ms Susanna Florio
Ms Fausta Palombelli / Secretary-general
Deputy secretary-general
Head of unit for Relations with civil society organisations, constitutional affairs
Administrator, Unit for Relations with civil society organisations, constitutional affairs
Member of the EESC president’s private office
Group II Secretariat
Group III Secretariat

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Staffan Nilsson welcomed participants,and in particular the next president of the EESC, HenriMalosse, who was going to outline his ideas with regard to the next two-and-a-half year period.

1.Adoption of the draft agenda (R/CESE 1070/2013)

The draft agenda was adopted.

2.Approval of the minutes of the 24th meeting, held on 17 December 2012 (CESE1072/2013)

As the minutes were not available, they would be approved at a later meeting.

3.Statements by the EESC president, Staffan Nilsson, and the Liaison Group co-chair, Jean-Marc Roirant

Mr Nilsson firstly highlighted the success of Civil Society Day, which had taken place the previous day. It had brought together some 280 participants over the course of the day and was marked by high-quality discussions.

He then thanked all of the members of the Liaison Group for their cooperation during his term of office and reminded participants that the purpose of this meeting was to assess what had been done over those last two and a half years and to look ahead to the future, under the presidency of MrMalosse. To this end, he noted that on the basis of the responses to the questionnaire that had been sent out in advance to the Liaison Group members it had already been possible to get a certain idea of the expectations of the European organisations and networks represented in the Group and that it would be necessary to reach a consensus on the way forward.

Finally, Mr Nilsson warmly thanked Jean-Marc Roirant for his cooperation over the past few years.

Mr Roirant underlined the special nature of the meeting, in that it was taking place at the end of MrNilsson's term of office and on the eve of a new presidency. It was thus time to take stock of and assess the activities of the Liaison Group, which was why, by agreement of the two co-chairmen, a questionnaire had been sent out so that everyone could express their views on the way in which the three tasks assigned to the Group had been carried out over the past term, with particular regard to the tasks assigned to its member organisations and networks.

He reminded participants that the European civil society organisations and networks were involved in the EESC on three levels. Firstly, they brought their expertise in their respective fields to bear on the EESC's own work, particularly when opinions were drawn up by the Committee's working bodies.

The second level involved holding joint events on topics of common interest to both the Committee and the member organisations and networks, such as the Civil Society Days.

The third level related to independent activities by the European organisations and networks made officially possible by the Committee regarding certain cross-cutting subjects. He pointed out that these independent activities had made it possible to establish close relationships between European organisations and networks extending far beyond just the members of the Liaison Group, as demonstrated by the creation of the European Year of Citizens 2013 Alliance. The members of the Liaison Group thus acted as a focal point within a more structured framework for horizontal dialogue between these organisations and networks.

While announcing his intention to step down as co-chair of the Liaison Group, Mr Roirant singled out what he considered to be two specific success stories that the Group had brought about: firstly, the organisation of the Civil Society Days, made possible thanks to the efforts of the Committee and Mr Nilsson in particular and, secondly, the creation of the aforementioned alliance, which now brought together around sixty civil society organisations and networks.

He concluded by underlining the timeliness and usefulness of holding this stock-taking discussion on the Group's activities – as the term of office of both Mr Nilsson and himself, as co-chair, drew to a close – and of taking advantage of the presence of Mr Malosse to look to the future.

He thus invited the participants to express their views.

4.Assessment of the Liaison Group's activities over the past two and a half years and future prospects

Mr Nilsson proposed first giving the floor to Mr Malosse so that a general discussion could then follow both on the results achieved and on future prospects.

Mr Malosse firstly emphasised that he had neither a presidential project nor a work programme for the duration of his term of office. His programme would be that of the Committee, which would be dictated by current events, and its priorities would be decided on a consensual basis by the Committee presidency and the section presidents. He added, however, that he had a number of ideas as regards reforming the EESC's working methods, ideas that he had already presented to the three Committee groups.

These ideas were underpinned by an observation, namely the paradoxical situation currently prevailing in Europe. On the one hand, Europe had never been more unpopular among the people and had never seemed to them more technocratic and incomprehensible. However, on the other hand, within the EU's institutional set-up, a body existed – the EESC – that was made up of representatives of civil society anchored in the real world, but which was insufficiently listened to by the institutions because of a lack of understanding and visibility. And therein lay the paradox. Although it ought to be the body that spoke on behalf of the people of Europe, who felt badly governed or misrepresented, the EESC was not playing its role.

The responsibility lay of course with the governing bodies of the Committee; thus the time had come to carry out a reform of the Committee's working methods, which he felt had evolved very little since 1958. Mr Malosse envisaged a reform on four fronts.

Firstly, regarding the way in which the EESC carried out its consultative role. Far too many opinions were being produced, often on technical matters of limited relevance, and too late to be fully effective. Enhanced anticipation was thus needed, as well as greater selectivity allowing efforts to be focused on the really important subjects. Finally, the quality of opinions needed to be enhanced.

The second area of reform concerned own-initiative opinions: he felt that too many were being drafted and that they were not being properly followed up. A Bureau working group had already put forward some options for reform to reduce the number of these opinions and ensure that those given the green light corresponded best to the Committee's overall political priorities on the basis of consensus among the EESC's political authorities.

The third area of reform was regarding the activities of the three observatories on the single market, the labour market and sustainable development, which should be more geared towards analysing the impact of important legislation on the quality of life of Europeans. The EESC had an important card to play in this field, and this would enable it to better demonstrate its value to the institutions.

Finally, the fourth area of reform had regard to the follow-up of the proposals and recommendations put forward in opinions, which should be stepped up.

The four areas of reform were not really new, Mr Malosse clarified. They were also the result of discussions that had been going on at the Committee for a long time; however, he now intended to rapidly implement them in the context of general consensus. Indeed, too often the EESC was perceived as an institution that spoke to the people, like all the other institutions. He, however, wanted the Committee to truly be the voice of the citizens within the institutions. That required a paradigm shift and a reorientation of the EESC, as well as a new quality of discourse.

With regard to the Liaison Group, Mr Malosse acknowledged that as president of the Employers' Group he had never been really involved in its activities; as future Committee president he had no preconceived ideas as to its future and possible evolution and intended to take a very open-minded approach to it.

He assured the members of the Liaison Group of his full respect for all European civil society organisations and underlined the fundamental role that they played. For the Committee, not working with these organisations would make no sense and be a suicidal approach.

Reiterating that he was open-minded, Mr Malosse announced that he intended to instruct a Bureau member to come up with proposals – together with the co-chair of the Liaison Group – for the future of the Group regarding its membership and activities. However, he stressed, this period of reflection should not serve as a pretext for halting the work of the Liaison Group pending the conclusions.

Finally, Mr Malosse already wanted to propose that the European organisations and networks belonging to the Liaison Group be involved in some shape or form in the Committee's work between now and the summer to frame its key political priorities regarding the Commission's work programme for 2014, in accordance with the protocol on cooperation between the European Commission and the EESC.

Mr Nilsson thanked Mr Malosse for his statement and outlined some of his own thoughts on both the stock-taking and the future of the Liaison Group. He felt that the past two and a half years had been rather productive. He was pleased that it was originally thanks to the Liaison Group that it had been possible to establish the European Year of Citizens 2013 Alliance. That Alliance had the support of the Committee and worked effectively with the coordination group set up within the SOC section.

He did not rule out, however, some self-criticism on the part of the EESC, with the responses to the questionnaire pointing to insufficient involvement of the European organisations and networks belonging to the Liaison Group in the work of the Committee. He stressed that it was essential here not only to talk to each other but also to establish a genuine dialogue between partners.

For the future, he felt it would indeed be useful to think about the membership of the Liaison Group, but also thought that the areas of mutual interest to the EESC and the European organisations and networks ought to be better defined, so as to enhance the added value of the Group. In general terms, he called on the Committee to maintain, in all respects, a spirit of openness and receptiveness vis-à-vis the European civil society organisations and networks.

Mr Roirant welcomed the comments by Mr Malosse, who had raised two issues that were also of concern to the European organisations and networks belonging to the Liaison Group, namely the Group's membership and activities, and particularly the agendas of its meetings, issues that had been a source of dysfunction during previous terms of office. He thus felt it would be useful to explore these two areas, but not without first raising the question of whether to continue with the current structure of the Liaison Group or to consider new forms of structured cooperation.

He added that the ideas put forward by Luca Jahier in his opinion on the implementation of Article 11 TEU regarding the need to reform the Liaison Group had been quite favourably received by the member organisations and networks. However, he would be totally opposed to the idea of restructuring the Liaison Group on the same lines as the Committee.

He also wondered whether it was appropriate to maintain the current representation of the EESC within the Liaison Group given the lack of availability of group presidents and the Committee's various working bodies in terms of being able to effectively engage in its work, which resulted in significant absenteeism at meetings.

On the issue of activities and setting the work priorities of the Liaison Group, Mr Roirant stressed that this was indeed a joint task of the two co-chairs, and one that was complicated by the fact that each Committee president had different perspectives and plans and thus also a different vision of what the Group's work priorities should be, which meant that its work lacked continuity. In this regard, he welcomed the fact that Mr Malosse had said that he would not have a programme for his presidency and that his work and that of the Committee would be dictated by current events.