Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Assemblée parlementaire Euronest Parlamentarische Versammlung Euronest Парламентская Aссамблея Евронест

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1 Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Assemblée parlementaire Euronest Parlamentarische Versammlung Euronest Парламентская Aссамблея Евронест Committee on Social Affairs, Education, Culture and Civil Society Minutes of the meeting of March 2013 Brussels The first session of the meeting opened on Tuesday 19 March at 15.30, with the Co-Chairs Ms Laima Liucija Andrikiene (EP) and Mr Artak Zakaryan (Armenia) in the chair. 1. Adoption of the draft agenda The draft agenda was adopted. 2. Approval of the minutes of the meeting of the Committee on Social Affairs, Education, Culture and Civil Society held on 2 April 2012 in Baku The draft minutes were adopted with an amendment by Mr Zakaryan. 3. Strengthening civil society in Eastern Partner countries: follow-up to the resolution adopted by the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly on 3 April 2012 in Baku and exchange of views with the European Commission and the EaP Civil Society Forum Alexandra Nerisanu, civil society officer at the European Commission (EuropeAid, Unit F1 Geographical Coordination Neighbourhood East), gave an overview of the EU instruments and policies to support civil societies in the Eastern neighbourhood. She made special reference to the Communication of 25 May 2011 on "A New Response to a Changing Neighbourhood - A Review of European Neighbourhood Policy" and emphasised that the funding available under the Civil Society Facility in had increased. She also described the way projects were implemented on the ground by EU Delegations and gave a number of concrete examples in various countries. She finally stressed the achievements of the EaP Civil Society Forum. Krzysztof Bobinski, Co-Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (CSF), thanked the European Commission and the European External Action Service for the moral and financial support provided. He also congratulated the Committee for the report adopted in Baku. Mr Bobinski stressed that PV\943460EN.doc 1 AP v01-00

2 national authorities' attitudes towards civil society were not uniform across the different countries of the Eastern Partnership, and gave a quick overview of the situation in Belarus, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia. He stressed that the CSF's dialogue with EU Delegations proceeded in general very well but stressed a lack of information from the European Commission and from EaP governments on the association agreements' negotiations. The following spoke: Mr Azay Guliev (Azerbaijan), Ms Andrikiene (EP), Mr Vieru (Moldova), Mr Zakaryan (Armenia). 4. Gender equality as a key value of the EU: exchange of views with Ms Virginija Langbakk, Director of the European Institute for Gender Equality Virginija Langbakk presented the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), an independent body established by decision of the European Parliament and the Council, with its own budget and legal personality, and a 30-people staff. EIGE is responsible for providing expertise on one specific policy area and to support policy-making. Its main task is to make sure that decisions taken do not impact negatively on women or men. EIGE reports every six months to the Council. Ms Langbakk stressed that the data, indicators and tools developed by EIGE (such as the Gender Equality Index adjusted to 27 Member States) may be interesting for other countries to look at. She also mentioned the creation of a "one-stop point" which governments can refer to for data and studies on gender issues, and communication initiatives undertaken by EIGE, such as the promotion of successful women. Finally, Ms Langbakk mentioned the interest already expressed by some EaP countries and stressed EIGE's readiness to cooperate. Jolanta Reingarde, Senior Researcher at EIGE, gave a presentation of the European Gender Equality Index and its methodology. The following spoke: Mr Kurpil (Ukraine), Ms Andrikiene (EP), Ms Vardanyan (Armenia), Ms Ibrahimgizi (Azerbaijan), Ms Kleva (EP). 5. Combating poverty and social exclusion in the Eastern Partner Countries: - Exchange of views with the EaP Civil Society Forum and the European Commission - Presentation of the draft report by co-rapporteurs Elinar Vardanyan and Elzbieta Katarzyna Lukacijewska - Exchange of views on the draft report Andrea Fontana, Head of Unit F1 - Geographical Coordination Neighbourhood East at EuropeAid, European Commission, gave an overview of EU support in the region, including a presentation of the various financial instruments available - European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), but also others such as the Instrument for Development Cooperation (IDC), the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), and the Instrument for Stability (IfS). Mr Fontana described the functioning of the ENPI in detail, explaining what the ENPI finances, how funds are implemented, who benefits from them. He also described the new "EU Budget Support Policy", entered into force in After this general PV\943460EN.doc 2 AP v01-00

3 overview, Mr Fontana provided examples of EU support in the EaP region in the field of poverty reduction and social inclusion: bilateral programmes in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine; but also regional and thematic programmes (on economic development, SMEs, youth, civil society, human and social development, health, gender equality, etc.) having an impact on the fight against poverty and social exclusion. Artur Benedyktowicz, Policy and Advocacy Officer at Caritas Europe, stressed that the draft report submitted to the Committee contained a very relevant message and constituted a useful contribution to the debate. He welcomed, in particular, the call for a stronger political commitment of the governments of EaP countries, as well as the fact that the need to include civil society is mentioned in the draft report. He asked, however, for a stronger reference to the role of civil society, which can provide its expertise and experience, for example, in employment and social policies. Mr Benedyktowicz also emphasised the role of civil society in implementing EUsponsored projects. Co-rapporteurs Elinar Vardanyan (Armenia) and Elzbieta Lukacijewska (EP) presented the content of the draft report and the approach they have followed in drafting it. They stressed that combating poverty and social exclusion should be a common priority of the EU and EaP countries. They underlined the need, in particular, for further cooperation on this issue. Finally, they emphasised that they have sought to draft a balanced and comprehensive report, and invited their colleagues to contribute with amendments. The following spoke: Mr Apostol (Ukraine), Mr Azay Guliev (Azerbaijan), Ms Blinkeviciute (EP), Mr Zakaryan (Armenia). The Co-Chairpersons invited the Members of the Committee to submit their amendments before the following deadline: 12 April The first session of the meeting was closed on 19 March 2013 at 19:00. The second session of the meeting opened on Wednesday 20 March at 9:00, jointly chaired by Laima Liucija Andrikiene and Artak Zakaryan. *** 6. Exchange of views with Mr Vytautas Leškevičius, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, on Eastern Partnership as one of key priorities of Lithuania's Presidency of the EU Council and Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Vilnius in November 2013 Vytautas Leškevičius, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, underlined that the Eastern Partnership was one of the three key priorities of the upcoming Lithuania Presidency of the Council of the EU; the other two priorities being growth and jobs and an open and safe Europe, where the Eastern Partnership also comes into play. PV\943460EN.doc 3 AP v01-00

4 Mr Leškevičius stressed that, from a personal point of view, he saw the Eastern Partnership from a very strategic perspective, and pointed out that the outcome of the Vilnius Eastern Partnership would be an important milestone. Mr Leškevičius compared the importance of association agreements to what NATO and EU accession represented for a country like Lithuania, stressing that this was about delivering concrete life changes to the people. He said that the association agreements, including the DCFTAs, were one of the instruments that enabled the transformation of political and economic systems and societies, underlining in particular the importance of mobility for the people. Mr Leškevičius therefore stated that Lithuania's objective at the Vilnius summit was to sign the association agreement with Ukraine, to finalise the others and to set longerterm prospects. He pointed out that adequate financial support needed to be secured to help EaP countries with the implementation costs of association agreements/dcftas. He also added that, even if the EU was not ready to mention the prospect of EU membership for EaP countries at this stage, he believed that the door should remain open in the longer run. Finally, Mr Leškevičius stressed the role of the European Parliament in giving its consent to association agreements and to the provisional entry into force of DCFTAs, and therefore expressed the hope that Euronest could contribute to communicate the importance of this step to the whole European Parliament. To conclude, Mr Leškevičius talked about contacts between people and the benefits of the programme undertaken under the Eastern Partnership Platform IV. He nevertheless expressed the view that more could be done, and stressed that the Lithuanian Presidency will contribute by keeping close contacts with the civil society. The following spoke: Mr Azay Guliev (Azerbaijan), Mr Mastalka (EP), Ms Ibrahimgizi (Azerbaijan), Mr Vieru (Moldova), Ms Andrikiene (EP), Mr Kurpil (Ukraine), Mr Pankevych (Ukraine), Mr Zakaryan (Armenia), Mr Osmanli (Azerbaijan). 7. Presentation of the activities undertaken under Eastern Partnership Platform IV - Contacts between people, by Mr Jordi Curell, Chairman of Platform IV and Director for Lifelong learning: higher education and international affairs in the European Commission Jordi Curell, Chairman of Eastern Partnership Platform IV, started by stressing the general objective of EaP platforms, which is to pursue a policy dialogue including EaP countries and to encourage the participation of partner countries in existing or specific programmes. Mr Curell described the functioning of the Platform, based on regular meetings of high-level officials from EaP countries, EU Member States and EU institutions. These meetings are structured in two parts: firstly, the presentation, assessment and forward-planning of programmes and events; secondly, an exchange of views on policy issues. Mr Curell went on to describe the specific activities of the EaP Platform IV on Contacts between People. He mentioned the Erasmus Mundus and Tempus programmes, stressing his belief that they have accompanied systemic changes in the beneficiary PV\943460EN.doc 4 AP v01-00

5 countries. He also referred to a flagship initiative allowing schools to interact through twinning, which was opened to EaP countries recently. He further presented initiatives and events in the areas of youth, media and cultural exchanges. Underlining the importance of youth and cultural issues for contacts between people, Mr Curell concluded that the Platform's first and foremost objective was to put concrete programmes at the service of policy. The following spoke: Ms Andrikiene (EP), Mr Azay Guliev (Azeribaijan). 8. Exchange of views on the future priorities of the Committee, including suggestions of topics for the next report Mr Guliev invited the Committee to try to have a concrete calendar for the upcoming year, or even for the next two years. He also stressed the need to fill the lack of information on civil society activities by having more participation of civil society representatives. Finally, he proposed to discuss the questions relating to conflicts and border issues and to look at real situations concerning border issues to avoid unfair criticisms. Mr Pankevych shared some proposals for the activities of the Committee, including the idea to look into the issue of labour migration, and a suggestion to debate the ways to deal with the legacy of the Soviet regime. Mr Zakaryan recalled the idea of the Azerbaijani delegation to organise a seminar on intercultural dialogue, and expressed support for it. Mr Zakaryan also stressed the general need to deal with issues that fall under the mandate of the Committee. He finally proposed a topic for a future report, on the promotion of culture and heritage. Mr Guliev clarified that the proposal to organise a seminar on intercultural dialogue was made by another committee, but that it turned out not being possible to organise it this year. He reiterated his proposal to deal with issues relating to the conflict and asked for the opinion of other Members. Ms Andrikiene stressed that a report on regional security matters was already under preparation in the Committee on Political Affairs, and that it was important to respect the competences of each committee. She agreed on the suggestion to involve civil society representatives more closely; she stressed that the Committee had always had civil society representatives in its meetings and that this should be done again in the future. Finally, on the possible topics for future reports, Ms Andrikiene recalled that in previous meetings interest had been expressed for topics on youth and education; on gender equality; and on culture. Mr Guliev expressed support for these topics. Mr Kurpil mentioned a possible workshop in Kiev in June on young people and political reform. PV\943460EN.doc 5 AP v01-00

6 Ms Andrikiene invited Members to communicate all concrete proposals via the secretariats. 9. Any other business No other business. 10. Date and place of the next meeting The Co-Chairs announced that the next meeting would be held in Brussels on 27 May 2013, before the third ordinary session of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. The meeting was closed at 12:00. PV\943460EN.doc 6 AP v01-00

7 EURONEST PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY Committee on Social Affairs, Education, Culture and Civil Society Meeting March 2013 Brussels LIST OF PARTICIPANTS EP component Ms Laima Liucija ANDRIKIENE, Co-Chair, Lithuania, EPP Mr Juozas IMBRASAS, Vice-Co-Chair, Lithuania, EFD Ms Elena Oana ANTONESCU, Romania, EPP Ms Vilija BLINKEVICIUTE, Lithuania, S&D Mr Cristian Silviu BUSOI, Romania, ALDE Mr Milan CABRNOCH, Czech Republic, ECR Ms Mojka KLEVA, Slovenia, S&D Mr Vytautas LANDSBERGIS, Lithuania, EPP Ms Elżbieta Katarzyna ŁUKACIJEWSKA, Poland, EPP Mr Jiří MAŠTÁLKA, Czech Republic, GUE/NGL Ms Tatjana ZDANOKA, Latvia, Greens EaP component Mr Artak ZAKARYAN, Co-Chair, Armenia Mr Boris VIERU, Vice-Co-Chair, Moldova Mr Azay GULIEV, Vice-Co-Chair, Azerbaijan Mr Mykhailo APOSTOL, Ukraine Mr Malahat IBRAHIMGIZI, Azerbaijan Mr Stepan KURPIL, Ukraine Mr Jeyhun OSMANLI, Azerbaijan Mr Oleh PANKEVYCH, Ukraine Ms Elinar VARDANYAN, Armenia PV\943460EN.doc 7 AP v01-00