Bosnia and Herzegovinas integration in the regional and European activities of the European Economic

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• Bosnia and Herzegovinas integration in the
  regional and European activities of the European
  Economic and Social Committee
• Patrik Zoltvány
• Member of the Western Balkans Contact Group
• European Economic and Social Committee, Brussels

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Institutional position of the EESC
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Who sits on the EESC?

• Treaty of Rome 1957
• Representatives of the various categories of
  economic and social activity
• Treaty of Nice 2000
• Representatives of the various economic and
  social components of organised civil society

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What is organised civil society?

• Organisations representing producers, farmers,
  carriers, workers, dealers, craftsmen,
  professional occupations, consumers and the
  general interest
• Organised civil societys role is to act as an
  intermediary between the public authorities and
  citizens

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What is the structure of the EESC?

• It is an assembly of 344 members from the 27
  Member States of the EU.
• Members are appointed for a renewable four-year
  term.
• They are appointed by the Council of Ministers on
  the basis of lists drawn up by national
  governments.

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An Assembly divided into three GROUPS

• Group I Employers
• Public and private sectors of industry, commerce,
  finance, etc. (large companies)
• Group II Employees
• National trade union confederations
• Group III Various Interests
• Farmers, consumers, the social economy, craftsmen
  and SMEs, social and environmental NGOs, the
  professions

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Decision-making bodies of the EESC

• The presidency
• The bureau
• The plenary assembly

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The EESCs working bodies

• Six sections
• Single Market, Production and Consumption
• Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the
  Information Society
• Agriculture, Rural Development and the
  Environment
• Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and
  Social Cohesion
• Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship
• External Relations

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The EESCs working bodies

• and four more recent bodies
• The Consultative Commission on Industrial Change
  CCMI
• The Single Market Observatory SMO
• The Sustainable Development Observatory SDO
• The Labour Market Observatory - LMO
• The members and the various working bodies are
  assisted by a secretariat-general.

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The activities of the EESC

• The role of the Committee is to issue opinions
• (approx. 150 per year)
• 1957 Treaty of Rome
• The Committee may be consulted by the Council or
  the European Commission
• 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam
• The Committee may be consulted by the Council,
  the European Commission or the European
  Parliament
• Mandatory or optional referrals

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The activities of the EESC

• In addition, the EESC
• has the right of initiative
• may issue exploratory opinions
• takes on the role of facilitator and promoter of
  civil dialogue

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Working methods

• To issue opinions, the sections usually set up
  study groups, each with a rapporteur
• A continual quest for a dynamic compromise
• Constructive debate based on expertise
• A vote is taken in the section, and then in the
  plenary session

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The Committee, facilitator of civil dialogue

• Regular contact and cooperation with networks of
  national economic and social councils and with
  civil society organisations
• at the level of the European Union
• in Member States and other European countries
• in Euromed partnership countries
• in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states
• in Mercosur states and other Latin American
  countries
• in India, China, etc.
• Western Balkans Contact Group

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Western Balkans Contact Group

• Started its work in October 2004
• Geographical Scope Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
  Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of
  Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro and Serbia
  (including Kosovo under UNSCR 1244)
• the only permanent and specific body of the EESC
  dealing with this particular region

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The aims of Western Balkans Contact Group

• to monitor changes in the political, economic and
  social situation in the Western Balkan countries
  and in EU-Balkan relations, more specifically the
  implementation of the Thessaloniki agenda and the
  evolution of the Stabilisation and Association
  Process
• to promote cooperation between the EESC and
  Western Balkan civil society organisations, as
  well as national Economic and Social Councils or
  similar institutions
• to encourage and maximise exchange of best
  practices between EU civil society organisations
  and their counterparts in the Western Balkans.

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Future Activities of Western Balkans Contact Group

• The Western Balkans Civil Society Forum / Spring
  2008
• Creation of Joint Bodies with Civil Society
  Organizations Stabilisation and Association
  Agreement is the precondition
• Capacity building of Economic and Social Councils
• Collection of information/ in-depth studies on
  civil society

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Western Balkans Contact Group inter
institutional cooperation

• European Commission DG Enlargement and DG
  Employment and Social Affairs
• European Council Task Force for the Western
  Balkans
• European Parliament Delegation for Relations
  with the countries of South-East Europe,
  Delegation to the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary
  Committee, Delegation to the EU-FYROM Joint
  Parliamentary Committee
• Committee of the Regions Working Group on the
  Western Balkans, Working Group on Croatia
• International Labour Office
• Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe (bearing
  in mind that it will become the new Regional
  Cooperation Council by 2008)
• OSCE (especially its Office for Democratic
  Institutions and Human Rights).

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The added value of the EESC

• a major repository of expertise
• the search for consensus (dynamic compromise)
• its role as a channel of communication between
  civil society organisations and the European
  Unions institutions
• a real impact on the European Unions legislative
  process

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• Its consultative role and its dialogue with civil
  society organisations
• make the EESC one of the most active
  protagonists and promoters of
• PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY.

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The president
The vice-presidents
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The Group presidents
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• Patrik ZOLTVÁNY, Group I,
• Western Balkans Contact Group
• Rue Belliard 99, B-1040 Brussels
• http//www.eesc.europa.eu
• Tel. [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• patrik.zoltvany_at_eesc.europa.eu