Memorandum, 10 December 2010, from EaP CSF Steering Committee, to EaP Ministerial Meeting

The past two decades of engagement of the EU with the post-Soviet countries have demonstrated that the shared values and principles underpinning the Eastern Partnership initiative, including democracy, human rights, the rule of law and good governance, can be observed and upheld when:

• there is open dialogue and co-operation between government and civil society,
• policymaking is carried out in an accountable manner so that policies are decided following multi-stakeholder expert consultations, and
• subsequent policy implementation is monitored by vigilant civil society organisations.

The Eastern Partnership initiative opens the doors to the EU’s eastern neighbours to embrace these shared values, and to increase engagement and contacts at all levels of society. To this end, the broadening and deepening of civil society is a key process; in order to keep the neighbouring countries on track towards becoming stable democracies, nothing is more effective than a vibrant civil society. To enable civil society to be an active partner at national and international level, the EU needs to equip the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum with effective institutional resources, including a Secretariat in Brussels.

At the second annual gathering of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, which took place in Berlin on 18-19 November 2010, a clear consensus emerged that the essential values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights and good governance will be best served by a vigilant civil society that provides “added value” expertise to the Eastern Partnership initiative, contributing to the development and implementation of policies, projects, and programmes.

The European Union and the EaP countries have to agree on and implement a system of incentives (positive and negative) to bring national developments in line with European standards. Priorities in the monitoring should be given to the Copenhagen criteria, democracy, rule of law, human rights, protection of minorities, and market economy. The EU is challenged to support the EaP countries with tailor-made projects dedicated to EaP priorities.
Memorandum: Civil Society expertise can strengthen impact and accountability of Eastern Partnership agreements through effective analysis, monitoring and implementation

To make this possible, greater access to draft plans and priorities, and “permanent participant” status in official platform meetings and expert panels, are essential, together with the support of a Civil Society Forum Secretariat

To meet these objectives, it is essential that civil society:

• engages as an active player in the official platform meetings and expert panels of the Eastern Partnership through the granting of “permanent participant” status to the Civil Society Forum;
• monitors the commitments and agreements made by the six EaP countries and the EU – through evaluation and analyses of implementation of EaP agreements;
• prepares practical policy recommendations for EaP countries and the EU, and advocates them within the official EaP Platforms and working groups;
• participates in the implementation phases of EaP policies;
• reinforces its work via national platforms;
• co-operates with EU institutions and international organisations promoting its objectives, e.g. EESC and Council of Europe;
• facilitates stronger engagement of EU civil society in the EaP process.

A wide-ranging consultation will be held by the Civil Society Forum to survey planned in-country projects of civil society across the EaP countries. At the Civil Society Forum event in Berlin, groups already confirmed that current and planned projects include:

• a comparative study to evaluate implementation of the various agreements signed with the EU by the six EaP countries within the framework of the EaP initiative;
• a series of policy projects between civil society from EaP countries and EU member-states designed to foster economic integration and in a number of cases working to assist EaP governments to move towards Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreements with the EU;
• a comparative report monitoring the observation of human rights in all six countries;
• a co-ordinated visa liberalisation project, which will assess the political will and technical preparedness of each EaP country. A first baseline study will be ready by the end of January 2011. Policy recommendations for both the EaP countries and the EU will be ready for the Eastern Partnership summit in Budapest in May 2011;
• a people-to-people initiative strengthening links between civil society in EU member-states and EaP countries.

In order to be able to maximise the effectiveness of its meetings throughout 2011, and to ensure that the EU and EaP governments benefit from independent input from civil society, the following steps are essential to the fruition of the efforts of the Civil Society Forum:

• Establishment of a Brussels-based Secretariat and Steering Committee Advisory Board with a robust mandate and sufficient resources;
• “Permanent participant” status of the Civil Society Forum in official platform meetings, thematic working groups, expert panels and flagship initiatives, with prior access to draft policy documents;
• Facilitation via EU delegations of trilateral dialogue at the national level concerning bilateral agreements, including priority-setting in ENPI funding and review of financial perspectives, and prior access to draft plans and priorities that are subjects of the Action Plans and Association Agreements;
• Access at national level to information about overall and sector-by-sector financial flows of EC budget support;
• As in the Western Balkans, establishment of a distinct Civil Society Facility under the ENPI to finance the capacity of CSOs and support dialogue between CSOs and government.

Without the above resources and access, the Civil Society Forum will be like a watchdog condemned to bark outside the room.

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