Opening the doors of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) to candidate countries, including more than 140 of their representatives in the work of the institution, and actively strengthening the rule of law and democratic standards are just some of the achievements that EESC President Oliver Röpke is proud of.
Under his leadership, the Committee has become a pioneer in involving the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova and Turkey in European processes, as well as giving space to young people to take part directly in shaping EU opinions, something he spoke about for EUpravo Zato.
He highlighted "Opening the doors of the EESC to candidate countries" as the greatest success of his mandate and recalled that from the very beginning he had promised to make the Committee more relevant, more visible, and to increase its influence.
"We are the first institution to have included colleagues from candidate countries in our work – from the Western Balkans, but also from Moldova and Ukraine - by involving them as candidate members. The first institution to truly move forward with gradual integration. I am proud because all the candidate countries appreciated this and now ask other institutions to follow the same example. In concrete figures, more than 140 members from candidate countries - from Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, but also from Ukraine, Turkey and Moldova - have already taken part in shaping our opinions. They brought the perspectives of candidate countries, and we as the EESC have learned a great deal about those countries. We worked together with civil society and strengthened fundamental rights and the rule of law in those countries," Röpke told our portal.
Another major achievement, when speaking about opening the Committee, is the inclusion of young people. The Committee was the first institution to apply the EU Youth Test, where youth representatives worked side by side with members.
The EESC President pointed to the closing ceremony held on Monday, where they had representatives from candidate countries, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, as well as young people "who also spoke from their own experiences, bringing their views directly into a European Union institution."
"Strengthening fundamental rights and the rule of law"
In addition to work in the above-mentioned fields, Röpke places particular emphasis on fundamental rights and the rule of law, recalling his motto: "Stand up for democracy, speak for Europe."
"I am proud that we strengthened our role - our role as ‘guardian’ in member states, but also in other countries, where we visited journalists, human rights defenders, social partners to see what the situation was on the ground and how we could strengthen the rule of law and the space for civil society. I think these are, in short, some of the main achievements of the past two and a half years, and they were collective achievements of all members together with our excellent staff at the EESC," he added.
When it comes to EU enlargement, which held a special place as a topic during his mandate, he said he believes that for too long the great need and will of citizens in the future member states to be heard and to make concrete progress had been ignored.
"We are already seeing a massive departure of experts from those countries. Another point is that after the war of aggression against Ukraine, there was clearly momentum for enlargement, because enlargement, if done in the right way, increases our geopolitical security. So we saw that momentum, and at that point I said that it was fine for us as the EESC to move forward and be pioneers, because we are the bridge between civil society and decision-makers," he said.
As he further explained, that was the starting point, and he was pleased that other members shared the same position, which made it possible to provide concrete help and support to social partners and civil society in the candidate countries. This, in turn, led to interest in the structure of the European Economic and Social Committee and in planning the introduction of similar structures in their own countries.
When asked what more candidate countries could do, he explained that they cannot abandon the path of reforms but must instead accelerate the pace in terms of judicial reform, media freedom, the fight against corruption, the rule of law, and ensuring that the rule of law genuinely exists.
"The question of social standards is also important, such as ensuring social dialogue in those countries. But if that is the case, then Europe really must continue with its merit-based approach, and I think there is then a good chance that one or two countries, maybe even more, could join the European Union in the near future," the EESC President told our portal.
(EUpravo zato)