Valdis Dombrovskis: NGO Forum - Riga - Main contents

date	March 2, 2015 - March 3, 2015
city	Riga, Latvia
location	National Library of Latvia, Mūkusalas iela 3, LV-1423, Latvia
attending	D.M. (Danuta) Hübner i, V. (Valdis) Dombrovskis i, L. (Laimdota) Straujuma i et al.
organisation	Latvian Presidency of the EU (Latvian presidency) i

The forum is organised by the Society Integration Foundation (SIF) in cooperation with the European Movement - Latvia.

The forum's partners are the European Economic Area Grant, Norwegian Embassy in Latvia, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and its Liaison Group and networks of NGOs, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the King Baudouin Foundation.

Its aim is to promote the involvement of civil society in decision-making at a national and EU level. The horizontal priority of the Latvian Presidency correlates with Articles 11.1 and 11.2 of the Lisbon Treaty and would help to put this into practice. The overarching objective of the forum is to evaluate expert proposals for the Road Map in order to improve and strengthen the involvement of civil society in decision-making at national and EU level.

The forum will have two parts. The first part will take place at the Riga Art Space on 2 March with six parallel working parties discussing the following topics: democracy, organised involvement of civil society, innovative approaches to promoting civil society involvement, human rights, environment and sustainability, people at risk of social exclusion, integration, new ideas for promoting voluntary work, etc. The participants will also discuss the Road Map and prepare proposals for its improvement.

On 3 March, at the National Library of Latvia, a forum will bring together 250 representatives from NGOs, policy and decision makers, opinion leaders and experts from Latvia and other EU Member States. Other participants include representatives from other EEA countries, the EESC and the EU's neighbouring countries. The Norwegian Minister for EEA and EU Affairs, Vidar Helgesen, has given verbal confirmation of his attendance. The participants in the forum will have access to the Road Map three weeks prior to the event to provide comments and proposals.

Key speakers:

Laimdota Straujuma, Prime Minister of Latvia;

Vidar Helgesen, Norwegian Minister for EEA and European Affairs;

Henri Malosse, President of the EESC and the Co-Chair of the Liaison Group of the EESC;

Prof. Marju Lauristin, co-organiser of the Baltic Way, Vice-President of the S&D group in the European Parliament;

Rihards Kols, Parliamentary Secretary of the Prime Minister of Latvia;

Alexandrina Najmowicz, Director of the European Civic Forum;

Prof. Danuta Hübner, President of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament (tbc);

Diogo Pinto, Secretary General of the European Movement International;

Catherine Day, Secretary General of the European Commission (tbc);

Gabriella Civico, Director at the European Volunteer Centre - CEV;

Conny Reuter, Co-Chair of the Liaison Group of the EESC.