LATVIA: Getting a voice ahead in EU trade policy-making
Malta: seminar offering civil society organisations the opportunity to develop their expertise on EU Trade policy took place in May
On the 18th to the 19th of May, 21 civil society representatives from Malta, Slovenia, and Cyprus, high-level national representatives from the Maltese government, European Commission trade negotiators, and international trade experts gathered in Malta for the first of the series of three seminars in the new Member States. Two more seminars will take place soon in Budapest and Riga aimed at central Europe and the Baltic states respectively. The project is organised for civil society organisations in the EU Member States that have most recently acceded. Each seminar is designed for a specific regional area, defined according to geographic proximity between countries and similarities in terms of socio-economic structure. The three seminars offer civil society organisations in the recently acceded Member States an opportunity to develop their expertise on EU Trade policy, and an invitation to participate in the civil society dialogue process, as set up by the European Commissions Director General for Trade (DG Trade). The aim of the project is to increase the participation of all interested civil society stakeholders in the recently acceded Member States in the civil society dialogue process as it relates to EU Trade policy-making. With this project the European Commission also aims to stimulate an informed debate on the position of the European Union in world trade. www.eiropaskustiba.lv/
