Press Release: Civil Society from the Southern Neighbourhood and the EU launch structured dialogue

On 30 April 2014, representatives of more than 150 civil society organisations, academics, media, government representatives and international organisations from the Southern Neighbourhood and Europe, from the Southern Neighbourhood gathered in Brussels to launch, with the EU, a major new initiative for the Southern Mediterranean, aimed at an enhanced and more strategic engagement with civil society. At the first ever Southern Mediterranean Forum, held in Brussels, participants outlined the results of a year-long consultation between the EU and civil society and marked out the next steps in this process.

The initiative aimed at the creation of mechanisms for sustained, structured dialogue between civil society, the authorities and the EU at a regional level. The structured dialogue would allow civil society representatives to express their views about EU policies in the region and, more broadly, about the policy priorities needed to improve the lives of the people. It was expected that representatives of national authorities from the partner countries would also participate.

European Commission: RAPID: SPEECH/14/346: SouthMed: Bringing civil society out of the periphery of EU-Mediterranean relations http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-14-346_en.pdf

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