Outgoing EESC chief calls on EU to keep enlargement momentum 

Brussels (enr) – The outgoing president of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Oliver Röpke, has called for “strong political willingness” to move forward on EU enlargement to include new countries in the bloc “in the next years”.

In an interview with the European Newsroom (enr) on the end of his mandate on Thursday, the Austrian trade unionist said the EESC was an “absolute frontrunner for this idea” and praised the “flagship” Enlargement Candidate Members’ Initiative, that was set up under his leadership, as one the biggest successes during his mandate.

The initiative was launched in September 2023 and is designed to involve representatives of civil society organisations from EU candidate countries in its advisory work to the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the European Union.

“We are the first [EU] institution involving candidate members from all candidate countries…in our daily work,” Röpke said. “I think this was a major step forward,” he added.

Röpke said the Committee now includes more than 140 candidate members from EU candidate countries. “They shaped already more than 20 opinions with our members, and they brought in the perspective of candidate countries,” he told the enr. “We saw where their interests are, where their shortcomings are, where they need more support,” the outgoing president added.

Nine countries currently hold EU candidate status: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine.

The EESC is a 329-member advisory body without formal legislative powers. It is a forum for consultation, dialogue and consensus between representatives from all sectors of organised civil society. Through its opinions, the Committee gives civil society, employers and workers a formal voice in shaping EU legislation and policy.

Oliver Röpke was elected president of the EESC in April 2023 for a 2.5-year term and will join the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva in November. The Irishman Séamus Boland is set to be elected in October as EESC president for the term 2025-2028.

This article is an enr Key Story. The content is based on news by agencies participating in the enr.