European Economic and Social Committee
The President
Brussels, 18 December 2012
Hearing Rio+20 follow-up:
European civil society contribution to the Commission's consultation
Staffan Nilsson's speech
I would like to welcome to this hearing my friend, Commissioner Janez Potočnik,
and participants from European civil society organisations and networks with
whom we have worked so well together – before, during and after Rio.
For my presidency of the EESC, I have identified three priorities: "dialogue and
participation", "sustainability and growth" and "solidarity and development".
Therefore you can be assured that the topics of today`s both hearings are
particularly close to my heart.
As you know, the EESC has been very actively involved in the run-up to Rio and
also on the spot in Rio, enhancing civil society dialogue in many ways. In
February the EESC organised a big conference bringing together European civil
society to discuss and decide on a joint input into the Rio+20 Conference.
European Economic and Social Committee
The President
We know now that the outcome text has not been as ambitious as we Europeans
would have wished it to be. It is now that we have to work to make the
agreement a success by advancing further on the processes that were launched
and by implementing at least here in Europe the proposals that we have put
forward in New York and in Rio de Janeiro.
We believe that the Rio+20 follow-up process and the implementation of the
Rio+20 decisions must be done with the involvement and participation of civil
society.
We see with concern that the follow-up process at the UN level seems to be stuck
because of procedural questions, which also limits possibility for civil society
participation.
We therefore welcome the Council's and Commission's statements to provide for
an inclusive process and welcome in particular the Commission's initiative to
launch a public consultation on that topic.
Dear Janez, I am glad that you took up our suggestion to complement your
online consultation by this hearing today, thereby giving civil society
representatives the opportunity to discuss statements related to the questions
raised in the consultation.
I see in the audience that many of you were here also in the morning. – We have
organised this hearing on the same day as our joint hearing with the
Commission on the achievements and future prospects of the Millennium
Development Goals. We at the EESC are convinced that these two international
processes of drawing up the SDGs and the post-MDG agenda should be merged,
which is why we start by bringing together the actors from these two parallel
processes.
The hearing this afternoon is focussed on the topics "inclusive green economy"
and "sustainable development goals" because these were the two topics that the
stakeholders stressed most when we had our Rio de-briefing session in early
July.
I would like to inform you that the EESC is working on an own-initiative opinion
on the green economy and that we have just received a request from the
European Economic and Social Committee
The President
Commission to prepare an exploratory opinion looking at several important
aspects related to the SDGs.
So the debates today will not only be an input for the Commission's
Communication on post Rio that we expect early next year but will also feed into
the EESC's work on these two opinions and our positions when we discuss these
issues with our counterparts outside Europe. We will continue to involve civil
society in this work.
The Commission consultation also raises questions related to priority actions,
financing and governance issues. Of course, these more cross-cutting topics can
as well be touched upon while you are referring to one of the two topics of the
hearing.
Thank you all very much for coming and I wish us all very fruitful discussions!
___________________
For further details:
Coralia Catana | EESC President's Spokesperson
+32 (0)25469963 | +32 (0)498984613
E-mail: coralia.catana@eesc.europa.eu | president.eesc@eesc.europa.eu
Internet: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.staffan-nilsson-speeches