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Newsletter No. 40 November 20, 2017
On 25-27 October Tallinn hosted the EaP Civil Society Conference and 9th EaP CSF Annual Assembly. The event attracted over 300 attendees, speakers and guests who attended more than 50 sessions of different formats focusing on the issues most topical for the civil society.
For the first time this year, the Annual Assembly and the Civil Society Conference – conducted as a side event to the Eastern Partnership Summit on a biennial basis – were merged into one event with a common agenda. It was organised jointly by the EaP CSF and the Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership under the auspices of the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Co-Chair of the EaP CSF Steering Committee Hennadiy
Maksak and Jaan Reinhold, Estonia's Ambassador-at-Large for
the Eastern Partnership, opened the key EaP civil society event of
the year held under the title Tangible Results for People:
Envisioning the Eastern Partnership in 2020 and Beyond.
"Constructive engagement of civil society with governments at a grassroots, local, and national level is a vital part of democratic governance building. A vibrant civil society sector is furthermore crucial for private sector development, sustainable economic growth, successful environmental policies, and social innovation. High-quality sector reform dialogue can only be achieved through increased technical expertise and the stronger leadership of civil society organisations," stressed Jaan Reinhold.
Eastern Partnership summit Brussels (Europa building) 24.11.2017 www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/international-summit/2017/11/24/
European Council
Council of the European Union
Public Private Dialogue
Newsletter
Civil Society Leaders Assembled in Tallinn
PUBLIC PRIVATE DIALOGUE Newsletter
Compiled by: Alexey Muzichenko
E-mail: [email protected]
Newsletter No. 40 November 20, 2017
Civil Society Leaders Assembled in Tallinn to Debate on Tangible Results of the Eastern Partnership ahead of the Brussels Summit
Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Republic of Estonia, outlined the progress Estonia has achieved in working with the civil society so far: "Estonia has chosen a partnership approach as its model for civil society and government relations. [...] The approach finds both the government and the civil society imperfect, both having unique strengths and shortcomings. [...] It is worthwhile to look at Estonian experience. How did we start our journey, which has lead us not only to an open civic space, but also to the most sustainable NGO community amongst more than 20 Eastern European [...] countries?"
Hennadiy Maksak commented on the challenges the civil society encounters along the way: "Civil society's engagement is an integral part of bringing democratic values and good
governance to each of the six partner countries. However, our mission is not that simple. We face many twists and turns on our path of fighting corruption, human rights abuses, injustice and poverty."
Ales Bialiatski, Chairman of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, described the role of the civil society in the Eastern Partnership: "For the civil society to be truly considered a partner in the Eastern Partnership countries, there is a need for a strong signal from the EU, especially for those countries where human rights violations exist. The path to democracy can be very long, but we have a responsibility to preserve the democratic perspective in these countries with a step-by-step approach."
In his keynote speech Commissioner Hahn, underlined that the support to civil society is the very first deliverable in the new EC and EEAS joint working document since empowering the civil society is crucial to deliver on all of other plans and priorities. He added: “We count on civil society to convey messages to citizens. I urge you to engage with your communities around the world, in the EU and not least in your countries. Societies will not progress without reforms taking root. Your continued engagement on either side of the EU's eastern border is crucial and we will continue to need strong civil society leaders."
The Civil Society Declaration was adopted as a
collaborative effort identifying major obstacles to further
democratic development within the EaP countries and to
the smooth implementation of the 2020 Deliverables while
offering specific recommendations on how governments
and civil society organisations can work together to
overcome them. It was presented to the Commissioner
Hahn as the consolidated civil society position for the
Brussels Summit.
Newsletter No. 40 November 20, 2017
A special ceremony featured the presentation of the EaP
CSF Pavel Sheremet Award 2017 to the Azerbaijani
journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, in recognition for his courage
and outstanding reporting on injustice and human rights
abuses in Azerbaijan. It was presented by the EaP CSF
Steering Committee member Alexandra Kalatozishvili,
and received by his spouse Leyla Mustafayeva who is
an independent journalist herself.
The civil society expectations for the Brussels EaP
Summit and beyond were featured prominently during
the high-level panel focusing on the Eastern Partnership
perspectives and challenges. DG NEAR Deputy
Director-General Katarina Mathernova emphasised that “civil society has an active role to play in the
strategic communication by the EU in the EaP partner countries. The European Commission is changing
modalities of supporting CSOs from financing to investing into capacity building.”
Throughout the parallel panels the attendees debated on
topics related to the civil society priorities such as regional
and economic integration, media and disinformation, digital
tools for democratic governance, and government-civil society
relations.
The event included a special ceremony dedicated to awarding the three best EaP CSF re-granting projects. The winners have been implementing projects on gender mainstreaming, smart waste management and monitoring energy regulators over the period of 7 months. A variety of projects and publications by the EaP CSF members were presented during
the event, including 15 re-granting projects funded this year.
During the stakeholders' meetings with a multi-country or country-specific focus civil society delivered their messages on selected topics of their interest to the policy makers. Working Groups’ initiated debates focused on rule of law and resilience, favourable environment for SMEs, implementation of the Action Plan for the Environment, youth employment and entrepreneurship. National Platforms’ initiated debates explored civil society’s role in the implementation of the EU-Armenia partnership agreement (CEPA), negotiations on the new EU-Azerbaijan agreement, EU-Belarus partnership priorities, constitutional reform in Georgia, implementation of the reforms in Moldova, and Ukrainian perspective on the 20 Deliverables for 2020.
During the Working Groups (WGs) meetings the
results of their work in 2017 were presented and the
Annual Work Plans for 2018 were developed. The
recommendations produced during the event will be
used in civil society advocacy based on the priorities of
the Forum in the coming year.
During the 3-day event the delegates elected the new
EaP CSF Steering Committee 2017-2018 with a
mandate from civil society of the EaP countries and
EU member states to serve as the governing board of
the Forum during a one-year term.
The EaP CSF would like to thank the European Union,
National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Visegrad Fund for
their generous support of the event and the Forum.
Newsletter No. 40 November 20, 2017
Trade Panel on the Reform of Systems of Technical Regulations and of the
Related Infrastructure Minsk, Belarus
Hotel Renaissance, 16-17 November 2017
At the Trade Panel of the Platform 2:
”Economic Integration and Convergence with
EU Policies” the main topics discussed were in
relation Market Surveillance as well as reform
of systems of technical regulations and setting
up related quality infrastructure with special
focus on standardization.
Participants from EU and EaP countries
provided their input on each session. First,
representatives from the European Commission, DG GROW, Lithuania, Sweden, Germany
explained the market surveillance in their country and technical cooperation with the countries
of the Eastern Partnership. Secondly, the participants from Armenia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia
and Moldova focused on the national reforms of systems of technical regulations.
Each country provided an update on latest
developments in their country with specific
focus on market surveillance activities.
Countries which have started to implement the
Association Agreement (including a Deep and
Comprehensive Free Trade Area), there are
Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, elaborated on
the action plans for approximation.
Finally, the participants agreed that it would
be advisable to invite representatives of
customs authorities in the next 18 Trading
Panel to ensure a fruitful and interactive
meeting. Special thanks to Katja Modric
Skrabalo, Policy Officer, EC, the Panel
Coordinator, for invited of the participants
from civil society. Civil Society Forum was
represented by two members: Mr. Vladimir
Karyagin (from Belarus) and Mr. Ilgar
Huseynli (from Azerbaijan).
Newsletter No. 40 November 20, 2017
Georgian Startups Association
Newly established enterprises are facing diverse challenges in Georgia: fundraising, technical and entrepreneurial skills, customs, technologies, and more than these; they lack contacts and information. And additionally, there is no and ideal business environment and startup ecosystem, where any kind of startup could benefit.
Georgian Startups Association was founded on June 5, 2017 to address these challenges and make business environment friendlier for new enterprises.
Georgian Startups Association’s mission is to develop entrepreneurship in Georgia by: Raising the culture of entrepreneurship, and especially, innovative entrepreneurship, among Georgian citizens with an accent to youth; uniting startup businesses to be stronger for overcoming challenges together; Improving business environment by working closely with the main actors of the economic policy.
On November 18, together with the partner company – Start—Business Solutions, Georgian Startups Association is organizing
the largest Start-up expo in Georgia, where startup service and products providers will be presented.
FB: https://www.facebook.com/Georgianstartups/
Contact Person: Nana Tsertsvadze.
E-mail: [email protected]
International Consortium Workshop
On November 17, 2017, in Republican Confederation of Entrepreneurship (Belarus), Minsk, with
the participation of Vladimir Karyagin, Chairman, and Ilgar Huseynli, President of the Social
Strategic Researches and Analytical Investigations Public Union (Azerbaijan), International
Consortium Workshop was held.
The Skype format has traditionally been used to
involve consortium members and experts from other
countries.
During the meeting, the participants discussed a wide
range of issues on the agenda, including the
development of cooperation BMOs and PPD-network,
preparations of Database of ideas for future projects
on the base of RPP and others.
Finally, the participants recommended registering in PADOR to ensure a possibility to take part
in calls of EU projects.
Stay tuned! Visit ppd-network.org