Nicosia, 01/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 27 November, the social and economic councils and similar organisations from the Euro-Mediterranean area, including the EU countries represented by the EESC, concluded the 2014 session in their annual “summit” with an appeal to set up economic and social committees everywhere. One of the first lessons to draw from this is that there is an increasingly clear commitment from the EU and its institutions to work directly with Mediterranean and Arab groups from civil society and at the same time to work out who will actually be representing these civil society groups. The economic and social committees suggest that they can provide a “natural framework” for dialogue and taking action but they still need to convince the different institutions such as the EU and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) of the validity of this choice. The majority of member countries from the south have reservations and their points of view vary from strong opposition (as in Egypt, in particular), to a desire to demonstrate a certain discernment with regard to the civil society actors chosen and the fear of infiltrations taking place.
A final statement was published at the end of the two-day summit. The recommendation made there calls on the “new leaders in Europe to strengthen relations with southern neighbours and to involve civil society organisations as crucial interlocutors”. The essential point underlined in it is “the importance of the role that economic and social committees and organised civil society in general should play in the political decision-making process”. It also asserts that the funding of civil society, its projects and the strengthening of its capacity, are the “essential responsibility of the European and Mediterranean political authorities”.
The economic and social committees themselves are encouraged to become widespread in all of the different countries within a regional representative body, on the lines of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), which has almost an institutional body attached to the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). The choice of either a regional European and economic committee alliance or creating a single Euro-Mediterranean Economic and Social Committee does not appear to have gained unanimous support and still remain subject to debate.
The debate also focuses on quality and what kind of link should be made with the secretariat general of the UfM with which attempts have been made to encourage closer relationships but which have not yet paid off. The economic and social committees in the region create the impression in their nonofficial commentaries that they are disappointed with not having been involved enough in the Barcelona process and the different operations geared towards civil society. Officially, talks are continuing to set out a coherent and balanced relationship between the economic and social committees and the UfM.
The declaration also sets out a wish list for member states including those in the EU with regard to the fight against poverty and social exclusion “on both sides of the Mediterranean”. Another objective subject to substantial debates involves: the social economy and solidarity, as well as social entrepreneurship, which are considered as “vectors for growth” throughout the euro-Mediterranean area. Youth employment and training were also among the priorities underlined in the meeting. The economic and social committees say that they “are aware that the global financial crisis, lack of employment prospects and the incomplete character of the political and social processes in certain countries is leading to an increasing feeling of frustration among young people from which despair is providing the human materials in which the traffickers in illegal immigrants are dealing”. The economic and social committees are calling for a real commitment to provide substance to the new mobility partnerships the EU is supporting.
Another priority underlined in the declaration focuses on: the future of women and the need for “promoting and encouraging their participation in economic life and facilitating their access to new technology”. The situation of women in conflict zones was also underlined as an area of concern, as was the need to ensure more decisive support for countries such as Jordan and Lebanon, which have been submerged by a wave of refugees from Syria. (FB)