European civil society organisations and networks, including the EFC, are running a joint campaign in the run up to the renewal of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in September 2010. The campaign calls on the governments of the EU 27 to ensure that the composition of the Committee reflects more the diversity of organised civil society in the Member States. In other words, it requests that the importance of the contribution of civil society organisations (CSOs) be fully recognised, as they represent interests other than those pursued by business and trade unions, for the well-being of European citizens and the strengthening of the social and societal cohesion of the EU.

EFC and DAFNE members are invited to support the campaign at the national level. They can join the process by writing to the competent authorities, which will select and appoint the new EESC members in their respective countries, and raising their awareness of the need to ensure better representation of the diversity of organised civil society in their appointments to the Committee. There is no much time to act as the Member States will finalise their nominations by March. To facilitate the process you can use the following template letter, see http://www.efc.be/EUAdvocacy/Documents/Campaign letter EESC renewal.pdf (276kb)

> To know more, read EFC Briefing