Brussels, 28/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - The second information and dialogue meeting of the European Economic and Social Committee on the European Convention was held on 27 May in Brussels under the presidency of Swedish national Jan Olsson (Various Interests, member of the committee on relations with the civil society). It was attended by a broad range of organisations from the European organised civil society. The Vice-Chairman of the Convention for relations with the civil society, Jean-Luc Dehaene, presented the preparatory work for the Convention sitting devoted to the civil society, to be held on 24 and 25 June. Commissioner for Institutional Affairs Michel Barnier presented the Commission's first written contribution, stressing its "expertise and impartiality as well as its memory, which is the true added value" (see EUROPE Documents No 2276/2277 of 25 May 2002).
"We are listening to you", declared Jean-Luc Dehaene from the outset. "The meeting on 24 and 25 June will be a very important moment (…) when we shall ask for another approach", he said. He announced that the Secretariat of the Convention will proceed to a summary of the contributions by the different non-governmental organisations (website: http: //europa.eu.int/futurum) and that the observers of the Committee, European social partners and the Committee of the Regions will be invited to express their views. Mr Dehaene recalled that, in this context, seven working groups were retained by the Praesidum on 1) responsibility and local authorities (meeting on 10 June); 2) the cultural approach (12 June); 3) the social approach (13 June); 4) the academic world (date not mentioned); 5) human rights (17 June); 6) the environmental approach (17 June); and 7) the development approach (18 June).
During the exchange of views, participants insisted on the need to foresee an additional working group that would deal with horizontal issues, such as the right to information, access to justice or European citizenship (Tony Venables, European Citizen Action Service/ECAS; Mary McPhail, European Women's Lobby/EWL). They also suggested changing the name of the "human rights" group to the "individuals' rights" group (Pervenche Bérès, MEP) (Ed.: to avoid saying, in French, "droits de l'homme"); creating an 8th group called "European democracy" (representative of the Citizens' Assembly 2004 Bruno Boissière, Union of European Federalists); and introducing gender equality in the Convention (Elisabeth Müller, European Women Lawyers Association). Jürgen Erdmenger (European Forum for Freedom in Education) asked whether NGOs could take part in several groups, while "vocational training, or human rights, come under both the cultural and social sectors". Bernd-Otto Kuper (ET Welfare) regretted that, in the Commission's communication, "there was not one word on civil dialogue". Félix Leineman (COMECE) noted that a sector-specific approach was not enough for the specificity of religious communities and churches. Giovanni Moro (Active Citizenship Network) felt it is "essential for the Convention to provide feedback, positive or negative feedback on contributions". Baron Cardon de Lichtbuer (Europa Nostra) welcomed the proposals put forward by Jean-Luc Dehaene to "group the cultural associations that ensure there is a common position and a quality spokesman so that there would be a 'cultural voice' at the Convention". The MEP wished to ensure that the Charter of Fundamental Rights would be integrated as it is in the Constitution. Pier Virgilio Dastoli (Permanent Forum of the Civil Society) felt that "what Jean-Luc Dehaene is proposing is a sort or dialogue pedagogy" and that there is "great determination to create a place of transversal reflection".
In response to the speakers, Jean-Luc Dehaene mainly specified that: - the organisations may express themselves in the working groups they wish but "it is important to choose the working group that is closest to your point of view"; - in these working groups, various opinions "either sceptical or committed at the European level" may be expressed. By way of conclusion, Mr Dehaene pointed out that the dialogue must be followed with the civil society after 24 and 25 June, and that the organisation of national fora is "vital if one wants the Convention to take root in each of the EU member States and candidate states".