Yesterday and today the EESC hosted the first meeting of the EU-Brazil Civil Society Round Table. The Committee’s growing role in providing the civil society dimension of the EU’s external relations is an aspect of its activities that deserves to be better known. In this case, the EESC has worked hard with the Brazilian Council for Economic and Social Development (founded in 2003) to set up a permanent structure for civil society dialogue within the overall framework of the EU’s Strategic Partnership with Brazil. This structured dialogue is designed to complement the EU’s political and parliamentary dialogues with Brazil. The first meeting of the round table was a great success. Once the ceremonial and procedural work was out of the way, the Round Table held two important and rich debates, one on the social consequences of the international economic crisis, and another on energy resources and climate change. Both debates demonstrated that we have much to learn from each other and that this sort of dialogue can greatly facilitate mutual understanding. The Round Table has its own pages on our website. You can visit them here.
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