Civil Society Contact Group

Civil Society Contact Group’s (CSCG) sent an open letter to Mr Buzek, the President of the European Parliament (EP), expressing concerns about access to the EP for civil society organisations. New ad hoc security measures have been put in place for all visitors to the European Parliament after a robbery of a post office located in the Parliament in February. This resulted in the permanent annual access badges to be suspended Later on in March, access was limited to temporary one-day (...)

Following the European Parliament plenary vote on an agreement between the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission regarding the implementing rules for the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), the Civil Society Contact Group (CSCG) - of which EPHA is a member - has expressed its disappointment that the rules regarding the implementation of the ECI will not allow citizens to use their right of initiative. The Lisbon Treaty introduces a new form of (...)

On 11 November 2009, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the Citizens’ Initiative. This consultation will provide the future rules and procedures on using the European Citizens’ Initiative. The Civil Society Contact Group welcomes this initiative and released a response to the consultation. The Lisbon Treaty introduces a new form of public participation in European Union policy shaping, the European Citizens’ Initiative, which enables one million (...)

The Civil Society Contact Group, of which EPHA is a member, has published a new training handbook “Making your voice heard in the EU - A guide for NGOs”. The handbook can be downloaded for free, in 8 European languages. It is specifically designed for relatively new NGOs and activists that are in the process of establishing a European strategy. The handbook provides information on EU institutions, the way European NGOs work, as well as lobbying “tips”, illustrated (...)

**UPDATED with EPHA response** The long awaited Green Paper on a European Transparency Initiative has been adopted in May 2006. The Green Paper aims to strengthen etchics rules for EU policy-makers and the estimated 15,000 lobbyists, NGOs and other pressure groups who seek to influence them in Brussels. In a Nutshell... The European Commission adopted the Green Paper on a European Transparency Initiative on 3 May 2006. The European Transparency Initiative aims to strengthen etchics rules (...)

Civil Society Contact Group (CSCG) organised a conference focusing on participatory democracy in EU on 12 July, 2006. EPHA’s Latvian-based project coordinator and her colleague from Civic Alliance Latvia (CAL) attended the event. The overall aim of the conference was to focus on participatory democracy - namely, what does it mean to EU institutions and to NGOs, and should NGOs be part of the dialogue or protest with EU institutions. The debate fed into CSCG contribution to the (...)

The Civil Society Contact Group and ALTER-EU hosted a joint brainstorming meeting, in response to the publication of the Green Paper on Transparency Initiative publication. On 23 May EPHA attended the brainstorming session, which discussed the content of the Green Paper on the European Transparency Initiative and in particular the challenges it raises for civil society organizations. This was also an opportunity to discuss queries on the Transparency Initiative. To begin there was an (...)

On the 12 July 2006, the Civil Society Contact Group organises a conference on civil dialogue: make the civil dialogue work better. On this occasion, they will present the study "Civil Dialogue: making it work better", which assesses dialogue and consultations between NGOs and EU institutions in seven different policy areas, at EU and national level. The aim of the conference is to bring together EU and national level NGO activists, giving them the opportunity to discuss the study’s (...)

An alliance of European civil societies have launched a campaign entitled the European Citizens’ Initiative. It is calling for the introduction of the citizens’ right of initiative in the EU. The European Citizens’ initiative (ECI) would require the European Commission to respond to a proposed change in European law signed by at least one million EU citizens. This would enable European citizens and civil society organizations to directly influence the political agenda of (...)

Latvian Prime Minister, Mr Aigars Kalvitis, organised a full week of discussions with representatives of national NGOs from 6-12 February 2006 to evaluate current cooperation and to develop the system further. In 15 May 2005, a memorandum establishing guidelines of cooperation between public authorities and NGOs was agreed upon. So far, 61 national NGOs have endorsed it. The Civic Alliance Latvia (CAL) briefly summarised the positive aspects of the document: Foreseen co-financing for (...)