DRAFT RESOLUTION of the Conference "Participation of NSA and LA in the EU Programmes"

Dear participants of the conference and visitors of the eurobelarus.info!

We would like to advise you on this draft resolution which was unanimously adopted at a Conference "Enhancing Belarusian civil society participation and local governments' participation in EU Programmes: problems and perspectives" and we would welcome your comments, suggestions and clarifications to this draft of the resolution. 

Your proposals will be collected by the initiators of the resolution and by a team of experts until 20 December 2008, the final text of the resolution, with your comments incorporated, will then be published. 

If you would like to submit your proposals you may visit a specially created Live Journal page: http://eurobelarus.livejournal.com

Draft

 RESOLUTION
Conference "Enhancing Belarusian civil society participation and local governments' participation in EU Programmes: problems and perspectives"
Minsk , December 2^nd, 2008

The participants of the conference «Improving the participation of citizens and local governments in the EU Programmes: Challenges and Prospects», held in Minsk , 2 December, 2008,

while recognizing the importance and the need in development of the European Commission Programmes in Belarus

while noting as a positive factor the long-term and broad nature of the proposals of these programmes, the existing strong interest of the Belarusian stakeholders, a strong convergence of goals and values of the European institutions and the Belarusian non-governmental organizations, the requirements of transparency and dialogue that underlie these programmes; 

establishing that in most cases, joint actions between the local authorities, non-governmental organizations, associations of citizens and local communities are not successful due to the lack of good will and interest of the parties in strengthening cooperation. Bearing in mind that one of the reasons for the lack of the impact of the European projects and programmes is due to the fact that they were developed without the participation of Belarusian experts and without going through the preliminary stage of broad discussion and consultation;

it should be accepted that there are certain differences in the perception of the priorities and sequences of the planned actions and steps; that the mutual understanding and cooperation between the Belarusian State (including at the local level) and Belarusian NGOs within the framework of cooperation with the EU institutions is still insufficient; 

it should be admitted that not all the resources and opportunities of the Belarusian civil society are engaged into the implementation of the European programmes. Belarus has great potential and its involvement in the EU programmes may lead to greater efficiency and success in promoting the ideas and principles of the democracy. The mobilization and involvement of the NGOs and other remaining institutions of civil society, religious and local communities is only possible through a broad public dialogue of all stakeholders, and equal partnership with the European institutions, and with the involvement of the Belarusian authorities into the dialogue, meaning their representatives at all levels, including the local authorities;

it should be noted that taking into account the specific nature of the situation in the country at the moment Belarus needs to support innovative solutions rather than exporting traditional social technologies. While designing and drafting their activities the European institutions need to shift the focus of attention from providing foreign assistance to establishing equal partner relations between the Belarusian and the European stakeholders. While drafting the local (Belarusian) agenda the expansion of the priorities of the thematic programmes should be a must, taking into account the relevant political, economic and social situation in the country;

representing the civil society of Belarus, relying on various target groups and members, being aware of their needs and being accountable towards them, understanding the complexities and contradictions in the relations between the key stakeholders of the Belarusian society, being aware of the importance of reaching a new level of relations with various entities within the European Union,

We propose the following:

1. To develop an agenda and a strategy of the development of the civil society in Belarus and to bring it to an open discussion in order to achieve a common understanding between all stakeholders and to use it as a guideline for further actions. 

2. To elaborate and adopt a framework document regarding standardization and regulation of partner relations between the European, donor and civil society institutions and the Belarusian government and the civil society. The Paris Declaration 2005 could be used as a prototype in this process, however should focus on involvement of the institutions of the civil society as we as of the governmental bodies. 

3. In order to implement such dialogue, to set up a permanent collegial body (for instance, a Public Council, Round Table, etc.) which would have its own ad hoc expert groups entitled to exercise the organizational, methodological, legal and evaluation functions, and to promote partnership relations between Belarus and the European Union. The involvement of such collegial body is necessary at all the stages of the development of the European programmes, starting from the situation analysis and idea generation and ending with impact assessment and effectiveness of the monitoring at all levels of the inter-institutional interrelations. 

4. To sign an Intergovernmental Memorandum on the registration of the enlarged international programmes of the EU in the territory of Belarus in order to remove the requirement for registration of individual projects within these programmes, thereby implementing in practice the principle of notification of registration instead of permission-granting principle, which is being used at the moment.

If you would like to submit your proposals you may visit a specially created Live Journal page: http://eurobelarus.livejournal.com