Ukrainian Side of the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform
Ukrainian Side of the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform (UA CSP) makes part of the of EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform (CSP), established by virtue of the provisions of Article 469 of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The Platform is a body, composed of representatives of the civil society of Ukraine on the one hand and members of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the other.
The CSP is one of the four main bodies under the Association Agreement, along with the Association Council, Association Committee and Parliamentary Association Committee. The Platform was established to ensure proper participation of the civil society in implementation of the Association Agreement while other bodies represent, respectively, government and parliament.
CSP makes recommendations to the Association Council. Furthermore, the Association Committee and Parliamentary Association Committee shall have regular contacts with representatives of the Civil Society Platform in order to obtain their views on how to attain the objectives of the Agreement.
UA CSP is made up of 15 members – representatives of three sectors of civil society – CSOs, trade unions and employers’ organizations, approved by the UA CSP Assembly:
- 6 coordinators of UA CSP working groups;
- 3 representatives of CSOs;
- 3 representatives of trade unions;
- 3 representatives of employers’ organizations at the national level.
The chairmanship of the UA CSP is on a rotating basis.
Composition of the UA CSP
History of the UA CSP
The formation of the UA CSP was launched in May 2014 when the organizing committee has been established as a result of public consultations.
The Inaugural UA CSP Assembly was held on 7 November 2014. During the Assembly, 15 UA CSP members with an annual mandate were elected by more than 165 NGOs from all over Ukraine.
The Inaugural meeting of CSP as a bilateral body was held on 16 April 2015 in Kyiv. The CSP Rules of Procedure were approved as well.
The current composition of CSP was elected at the UA CSP Assembly, which took place on 18 December 2015.
In 2016, CSP held two meetings – in Brussels (11 February) and in Kiev (8-9 November), while in 2017 the 4th CSP meeting took place on 18 May in Brussels. Thematic reports of the Platform were presented at these meetings in addition to discussion on the progress on implementation of the Association Agreement.