Brussels, 30/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - In the framework of the European Convention, the President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Goke Frerischs sent a letter to the presidents of the economic and social councils of Member States on 25 April, in which he asks them to "provide body to our structured co-operation", as agreed when the "Convention" subcommittee of the ESC was set up in February (see EUROPE of 25/26 February, p.7). In his letter, President Frerichs states that the subcommittee has identified working paths, mainly concerning co-operation with European-wide civil society organisations, candidate countries and social partners, as well as national economic and social councils. Regarding this, Frerichs stipulates that "Mr. van Popta, Advisor in the Dutch Economic and Social Council, was nominated to take charge of relations with the EU's national economic and social councils and to play a bridging role between them and the Committee". The President considers it "necessary to rapidly have regular information on the activities of the different national councils relating to the work of the Convention, notably to identify certain initiatives (working meetings on the ground, organisation of a debate in plenary, meeting with members of the Convention's Presidium, etc.)". To that end, a co-ordinating meeting between representatives of national councils and the Committee will be held in Brussels on 17 May, followed by a joint meeting with members of the subcommittee, and a meeting of those responsible for the ESClink mission, in Athens on 17 May, to discuss the information sites of the national councils and set out the technical provisions for rapid information exchange. Finally, at the meeting of the Secretaries General of the national economic and social councils, in Dublin on 24 June, a work programme should be finalised.
As for the debate with the economic and social partners of the candidate countries, this will be co-ordinated by Henri Malosse, Advisor in the Committee (France, employers group) so as "together to raise awareness, solicit, fuel and develop common projects", says Thomas Jansen, Chef de Cabinet of President Frerichs. "The same thing could be done with the organisations of the 222 members of the Committee", Jansen went on. "The Committee's advisors may fuel the debates on the future of Europe within the organisations from which they come and pass on their opinions to the Committee, and then the Convention", Mr. Jansen stipulates, stating that it is up to the Swedish trade unionist, member of the Committee, Lars Allan Nyberg, "to orchestrate this debate". Finally, Thomas Jansen said that consultations with the observers appointed by the European social partners in the Convention - Emilio Gabaglio, for trade unions (ETUC) and George Jacobs for employers (Unice) - will be the responsibility of Roger Briesch, French trade unionist, member of the Committee. Mr. Jansen also announced that the advisors Henri Malosse (French, employers' group), Gianni Viany (Italian, worker's group) and Seppo Kallio (Finnish, various interests group) were conducting a "sort of screening of the Committee's opinions to pinpoint the stances already taken by the Committee, regarding European governance, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, civil society, etc.. This screening should be presented to the Convention very shortly as the Committee's initial substantive contribution".
Jean-Luc Dehaene at first briefing with organisations of civil society
On 18 April, the Convention's Deputy Chairman, Jean-Luc Dehaene assisted in a first briefing and dialogue with networks of organisations representative of civil society (social platform, cultural organisations, NGOs active in the sectors of development and human rights, religious and humanist communities, etc.) and "even eurosceptics", said Thomas Jansen. Co-chaired by Anne-Marie Sigmund (Committee observer in the Convention) and Jan Olsson (member of the Committee responsible for relations with organised civil society) and with the participation of Jens-Peter Bonde (member of the Convention) and other MEPs, the meeting highlighted a certain number of common concerns to the participants on subjects such as: 1) subsidiarity: some speakers raised "horizontal subsidiarity", consisting in "defining for the same policy the share that is attributed to public authorities and that to citizens themselves"; 2) culture: for most participants, "this concept should be taken in its broader meaning, ranging from artistic creation to education and training, and should be provided space in EU policies". The need to self-organise into working parties on specific issues for in-depth reflection was also raised by some speakers. Concluding the work, Jean-Luc Dehaene assured the participants that he would himself attend these meetings once a month, otherwise it would be another member of the Presidium.