Dear Members of the Liaison Group,
The high-level debate on enlargement held during the EESC July plenary confirmed a simple but powerful message: enlargement is the defining political project for Europe’s future. It was a real pleasure to share ideas with the Enlargement Candidate Members, representing social partners and civil society of the ten candidate countries and potential candidates, as well as Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos. For those of you who were there, I am sure you also felt the energy in the room.
At a time of geopolitical uncertainty, candidate countries are already contributing to a safer and more resilient Europe by advancing democratic reforms, strengthening rule of law and upholding fundamental rights. But enlargement means also placing socio-economic convergence, sustainable growth, quality jobs, social cohesion and competitiveness at the centre
of the process. For the EESC, one priority is clear: civil society is at the heart of enlargement. Reforms are stronger, more legitimate and more sustainable when social partners and civil society organisations are involved from the beginning, not consulted at the end to tick a box.
This was also the spirit of our last Liaison Group meeting in June, where we exchanged with representatives that are part of the Enlargement Candidate Members initiative. This pioneering initiative is one of the most concrete ways in which the EESC supports gradual integration: by enabling civil society representatives from candidate countries to contribute directly to our opinions and to the daily work of the Committee.
Their participation enriches our work, it brings the reality of accession closer to EU policymaking. It reminds us that behind every negotiation clusters and chapters and every political commitment, there are citizens, communities and organisations working to build a European future. I was reminded of all this during my trip to Moldova and I will continue to keep this high in the EESC agenda in the next months.
The engagement with enlargement partners in the framework of the European Democracy Shield and the Civil Society Strategy goes in the same direction. It is a recognition that there is a "continuum" between current and future members.
The momentum is there. The commitment of frontrunner candidate countries is there. Civil society’s support is there. Our responsibility now is to work together to turn aspiration into progress, and progress into accession.
