EU DELEGATIONS AND ROADMAPS:
EU Delegations are official representatives of the European Union vis-à-vis the authorities and population in their host countries. CONCORD has been monitoring for 10 years the relationship between EU Delegations (EUDs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) across the world by publishing the EU delegations reports every 2 years. Since the launch of the European Commission 2012 communication:’The roots of democracy and sustainable development: Europe’s engagement with Civil Society in external relations’, the EU has intended to develop a more strategic engagement and structured dialogue with civil society organisations in its partner countries. This has been translated into instruments and programmes and the adoption of country roadmaps for the engagement with civil society by EU delegations.
For more information on the EU Delegations, please visit the dedicated webpage of the EU Delegation Report 2017 “Towards a more effective partnership with Civil Society” which is based on a broad survey and provides some data, examples and country cases as well as a general assessment and recommendations on the issue. For previous editions, we invite you to consult the publications in this list.
CONCORD’s BRIEFING:
This briefing has been designed to help CONCORD members and partners to engage with the process of consultation at country level. Since 2012, the EU Delegations have developed country roadmaps to strengthen the strategic cooperation and structured dialogue of EU and Member States with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) at partner country level. As EU Delegations are this year updating their country roadmaps for Engagement with Civil Society, it is therefore a key moment to build capacity and mobilise local civil society organisations to engage with the EU Delegations. Local, national and international CSOs working in countries across the world can engage in dialogue with their respective EU Delegation to make their, and their constituencies’, voices heard.
This briefing paper provides background to, and the next steps of, the EU country CSO roadmaps, helping you to engage effectively with local EU Delegation. The briefing paper is available in English, French and Spanish, including the annex with the list of the roadmaps to be revised.