Skip to content
+32 (0)2 721 40 69Rue du Congrès 13 - B-1000 Brussels
Twitter page opens in new windowMail page opens in new window
Civil Society Europe
European Coordination of Civil Society Organisations
Civil Society EuropeCivil Society Europe
  • ABOUT US
    • Who We Are
    • Our Mission
    • Our Statutes
    • Our Organisation
      • Steering Committee
      • Our Team
      • Our Network
    • Funding
    • Become a Member
    • Job Vacancies
  • OUR WORK
    • What We Do
    • Partnership
    • Campaigns
    • Events & Meetings
    • Projects
    • Working groups
    • Members’ area (members only)
  • NEWSROOM
    • Press Release2
    • Publications
      • Civil Society Convention on the CoFoE
      • Rule of Law
      • Civic Space
      • Civil Dialogue
      • Transparency
      • Fundamental Rights
      • Access to Funding
      • Activity Reports
    • Newsletter
    • Gallery
  • CIVIL SOCIETY CONVENTION
    • Organisation & Rules
    • Convention Timeline
    • Thematic clusters
      • The fight against Climate Change and Environmental Challenges
      • Social Europe
      • Europe’s Digital Transformation
      • Our European Life
      • The Union’s Democratic Foundation and Rule of Law
  • CONTACT
Search:
Search
  • ABOUT US
    • Who We Are
    • Our Mission
    • Our Statutes
    • Our Organisation
      • Steering Committee
      • Our Team
      • Our Network
    • Funding
    • Become a Member
    • Job Vacancies
  • OUR WORK
    • What We Do
    • Partnership
    • Campaigns
    • Events & Meetings
    • Projects
    • Working groups
    • Members’ area (members only)
  • NEWSROOM
    • Press Release2
    • Publications
      • Civil Society Convention on the CoFoE
      • Rule of Law
      • Civic Space
      • Civil Dialogue
      • Transparency
      • Fundamental Rights
      • Access to Funding
      • Activity Reports
    • Newsletter
    • Gallery
  • CIVIL SOCIETY CONVENTION
    • Organisation & Rules
    • Convention Timeline
    • Thematic clusters
      • The fight against Climate Change and Environmental Challenges
      • Social Europe
      • Europe’s Digital Transformation
      • Our European Life
      • The Union’s Democratic Foundation and Rule of Law
  • CONTACT

Open letter on breaches in transparency and accountability of Member States nominations to the EESC 2020-2025

You are here:
  1. Home
  2. Democracy
  3. Open letter on breaches in…
Jul172020
DemocracyPress release

Based on article 302 of the Treaties, Civil Society Europe addressed a letter the Vice President of the European Commission in charge of Interinstitutional Relations, Mr Maroš Šefčovič in order to bring forward some concerns on the proposed nominations by Member States of some members of the European Economic and Social Committee for the period 2020 – 2025, falling into the EESC Group III membership, before the European Commission submits its recommandations to the Council.

The letter addresses in particular nomination processes for representatives of civil society organisations in Croatia, in the Czech Republic,  and in Poland which were carried out inconsistently with the accountability and good governance rules and have worrying implications for civic freedoms, In all those countries, the adopted procedures and voting results of the  nominating bodies established by law have been disregarded in order to favour other candidates chosen by national authorities. It is legitimate to ask whether the candidates emerging from such flawed nomination processes can really be considered as ‘representative of civil society’ (TFEU Art. 300(2)) if civil society’s express wishes have been flagrantly ignored by the respective governments.

CSE notes however that other issues were also reported in other EU countries and will be the object of a specific report on good and bad practices.

CSE calls on the European Commission not to recommend to the Council the nominations from the Czech Republic, Croatia, and Poland but  to demand explanations from the authorities in those countries and hear also the different parties involved in the nomination process, particularly civil society organisations, in order to fully assess the accountability and democratic integrity of the nomination procedures, and encourage member States to submit a revised list of candidates.

On a longer term, CSE also invites the European Commission to propose to the Council to adopt nomination rules that would guarantee the autonomy of all interest groups (employers, workers, and civil society organisations). We also believe that a definition of civil society organisations would be useful to prevent confusion with employers and workers representatives and ensure a truly tripartite representation.

Please read the letter with the full description of the case for each country.

Categories: Democracy, Press releaseBy Carlotta Besozzi17 July 2020
Share this article
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook TweetShare on Twitter Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp

Author: Carlotta Besozzi

Post navigation

PreviousPrevious post:Europe’s recovery after the pandemic and Civil SocietyNextNext post:Letter from Civil Society to MFF negotiators

Related Posts

High-Level Conference on ‘RebuildUkraine’ & Civil Dialogue
22 December 2022
Statement by Civil Society on EP Resolution on transparency and accountability in the European institutions
16 December 2022
Civil Dialogue in the EU – What’s next?
12 December 2022
CSE supports a legislative initiative on Cross-border activities of associations
31 October 2022
Civil society public letter on the Council’s proposed general approach to the Regulation of Political Advertising
31 October 2022
Defense of Democracy Package: Civil Society is key
27 October 2022
Search
Latest news
  • High-Level Conference on ‘RebuildUkraine’ & Civil Dialogue
  • Statement by Civil Society on EP Resolution on transparency and accountability in the European institutions
Events
  • Aucun évènement
  • PAST EVENTS

    SEE PAST EVENTS

    Civil Society Europe
    Civil Society Europe 2023
    • ABOUT US
    • BECOME A MEMBER
    • JOB VACANCIES
    • NEWSROOM
    • GDPR / PRIVACY POLICY
    • CONTACT
    Footer