At the beginning of the year, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), as the responsible EU institution for the inclusion of social partners from the employers, employees, and civil society sectors, launched a pilot project for the inclusion of representatives from these sectors from enlargement countries in the work of the Committee.

Inclusion of representatives from countries aspiring to join the EU in the work of this Committee represents an excellent model of gradual integration of various sectors of society even before they become official EU Member States.

However, the European Economic and Social Committee decided to use the framework of countries with candidate status as the basic eligibility criterion for inclusion in this initiative, thus making Kosovo the only country with EU perspective that is not included.

Considering this framework and decision of the European Economic and Social Committee as untenable and contrary to the values and principles promoted by this EU institution, the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN), of which KCSF is a member, addressed EESC with a letter during this April requesting reconsidering the decision and the inclusion of Kosovo in this initiative. The letter from BCSDN can be downloaded at the link below.

This request will be reiterated at the High-Level Civil Society Conference to be organized by the European Economic and Social Committee on May 24, 2024, in Ljubljana, which will focus precisely on the topic of benefits for the Western Balkans in advance of EU accession.