The 11th meeting of the Ukraine-EU Civil Society Platform took place on April, 20 in Brussels

Members of the CSP from the Ukrainian part and the members of the European Economic and Social Committee rigorously and unequivocally condemned Russia's unprovoked, unjust and illegal invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign and democratic state.

 

Nadija Afanasieva, the director of Ukrainian Institute for International Politics, coordinator of the Working Group 1 “Political dialogue, foreign policy and security policy” of the Ukrainian part of the Platform also took part in the event.

 

During the discussion, participants developed expert proposals on the process of European Integration of Ukraine, political dialogue and foreign policy, regional development and cross-border cooperation, human rights, economic development of Ukraine, social policy, energy, transport, environment and climate change, science, innovation, information society and education.

 

Participants called on the EU Council to grant Ukraine EU candidate status by June 2022, stressed the need to focus on EU cooperation programs on economic development, smart specialization and innovation in various fields, and called on the parties to grant Ukraine the access to EU financial instruments and programs (such as LIFE, CEF, DIGITAL, EU4HEALTH and others).

 

They also stressed the importance of speeding up the process of launching full-fledged cooperation between Ukraine and European Anti-Fraud Office OLAF and the functioning of the financial control system for efficient and targeted use of EU funds.

The Joint Declaration of the CSP was also adopted during the meeting.

 

In addition, Ukrainian Hub within EESC - European Economic and Social Committee Headquarters was opened. It will facilitate further cooperation between the EU and civil society.

 

The EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform 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.