News: During the Civil Society Forum the EESC relaunches its commitment to the integration of the Western Balkans

During the ninth meeting of the Western Balkans Civil Society Forum in Thessaloniki, organized by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the President of EESC, Oliver Röpke, recalled that the Committee is an important player in the attempt to bring civil society in the Western Balkans closer to that of the Member States of the European Union. During the meeting, Röpke recalled the Honorary Members' Enlargement Initiative, which includes the inclusion of 3 honorary members of civil society from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine in the process of drafting EESC opinions. The forum ended with the adoption of a Final Declaration focused on three points: the EU accession path, competences and the Green Agenda. As regards the accession path, the Committee calls for "a clear and realistic timetable for accession". Secondly, the Committee calls for EU programmes in the region to be strengthened in order to reach more young people and develop their skills. With regard to the Green Agenda, the Committee expresses its concern about the limited progress made by the lack of a specific timetable and path, inviting the Western Balkan states to focus on respecting environmental standards.

Photo credits: File:Western Balkans.PNG: Olahusderivative work: Pyrlandczyk, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons