Main points
Role is to inform civil society of the progress made in the implementation of the Agreement and of their contribution to its implementation.
Composition: consists of representatives of Ukrainian civil society, on one part, and members of the European economic and social Committee, on the second part.
Chairmanship is carried out alternately by a representative of the civil society on the Ukrainian part and by a representative of the European economic and social Committee.
Created: the first meeting was held on April 16, 2015.
Venue: meetings are held alternately twice a year in Ukraine and in the EU (EESC headquarters in Brussels).
Website: Ukrainian part of the EU–Ukraine Civil Society Platform; EU-Russia Civil Society Platform
What does the Civil Society Platform do?
The Civil Society Platform (CSP) is a joint Advisory body of civil society of Ukraine and the EU. The CSP is responsible for representing and informing the signatories of the Association Agreement and the joint bodies established under the Agreement on the joint position and interests of the organizations represented in the CSP on all matters covered by the agreement.
- The CSP as an Advisory body provides advice in response to the request of the Association Council and the Association Committee. The CSP can also provide recommendations on its own initiative.
- The CSP should be informed about the decisions and recommendations of the Association Council.
- The Association Committee and the Parliamentary Committee of the Association should maintain regular contacts with representatives of the Civil Society Platform in order to obtain their views on the achievement of the objectives of the Agreement.
The Government Office for the Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration in accordance with sub-paragraph 15, paragraph 4 of the Regulation on the Government Office, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated October 4, 2021 No.59, ensures interaction of members of the bilateral bodies of the Association with the Ukrainian Side and organizes quarterly meetings with the participation of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, with representatives of the Ukrainian part of the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform.
On March 24, 2016, the first meeting of the Deputy Ministers for European integration with representatives of the Ukrainian part of the Civil Society Platform was held in the building of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Composition
Each of the parties of the Civil Society Platform is composed of 15 people representing three sectors: trade unions, employers and other civil society organizations.
In accordance with the Regulations of the Ukrainian part (UP) of the Civil Society Platform, it consists of 6 coordinators of working groups (corresponding to the structure of the Association Agreement), who are elected by the Assembly, 3 representatives of public associations, 3 representatives of trade unions at the national level, 3 representatives of the employers' organization at the national level. The chairmanship in the UP CSP is carried out on a rotational basis.
The EU part consists of 15 members, which include 9 members of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), as well as 6 representatives of the leading European organizations representing civil society as permanent observers.
The membership of the CSP and permanent observers is renewed every 2.5 years, which coincides with the renewal of the term of office of the EESC members.
How does the Civil Society Platform work?
Each of the parties to the Platform is led by co-chairs who prepare, coordinate and organize the work of the CSP, both during the meetings of the two parties and during the work between the meetings. The co-chairs shall co-chair the meetings.
On the Ukrainian part, the rotation of the co-chairs is carried out every 10 months for the consistent representation of each of the 3 sectors during the term of the Platform.
The parties to the EESC and Ukraine agree on matters that need coverage, either on their own initiative or in response to the request of other joint bodies established in accordance with the Association Agreement.
The co-chairs, after consultations with members, shall take decisions on the issues to be covered during the next meeting, in accordance with the jointly agreed priorities.
The draft agendas of the meetings are drawn up by the co-chairs taking into account the proposals of the members and permanent observers of the CSP. Agenda items are the topics of reports submitted by each party. Each party shall entrust the preparation of reports to either the Rapporteur or the working group. In the latter case, the working group shall appoint a Rapporteur to provide information during the meetings.
A quorum shall be deemed to be available if there are at least 8 members and permanent observers from each party, provided that there is at least one member from each of the sectors on each side.
The CSP shall take decisions by reaching consensus among the members of each party from among the members and permanent observers present at the meeting. The decision should reflect in a balanced manner the positions of all sectors of civil society, in particular employers, trade unions and other civil society organizations. Should there be no consensus and if both parties agree, the co-chairs may propose to refer the points of disagreement to the Council of the Association.
Working groups:
6 permanent working groups operate under the UP CSP:
- WG 1 “Political dialogue, foreign policy and security policy”;
- WG 2 “Freedom, justice, human rights”;
- WG 3 “Economic cooperation, free trade area, cross-border cooperation”;
- WG 4 “Employment, social policy, equal opportunities and health”;
- WG 5 “Energy, transport, environment and climate change”;
- WP 6 “Science and technology, information society, education, training and youth, culture and sport”.
The work of the working groups is focused on promoting the effective participation of civil society in the implementation and monitoring of the implementation of the Association Agreement on issues within the competence of the relevant group.
Meetings:
Since the establishment of the EU–Ukraine Civil Society Platform, seven meetings have been held. The founding meeting of the CSP as a bilateral body was held on April 16, 2022 in Kyiv. At the same time, the CSP Regulations were approved.
The second meeting was held on 11 February 2022 (Brussels);
Third meeting – 8-9 November 2016 (Kyiv);
Fourth meeting – 18 may 2022 (Brussels);
Fifth meeting – 15 November 2021 (Kiev);
Sixth meeting – 12 April 2022 (Brussels);
Seventh meeting – April 3, 2022 (Lviv).