Докладчик: г-н Morkis

7.4There are two trade union organizations in Belarus. The Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus is the largest association of workers of Belarus, with circa 4 million members. Belarusian Congress of Democratuc Trade Unions, created in 1993, is the only recognized member organization in Belarus by ITUC, ETUC, and PERC. As regards Belarusian legislation, workers have a right to protect their interests but these rights are not respected in practice. The government has adopted a fixed-term contract system, involving transferring all government employees onto short-term contracts and not extending employment contracts for trade union activists. This contract system is used to dismiss independent union members and opposition political activists. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Commission of Inquiry criticised the government of Belarus for interfering in trade union activity and urged it to address the ILO recommendations to stop interfering in the unions. The Ministry of the Economy of Belarus responded by canceling the ILO’s technical assistance project with the unions¹⁵. EU has imposed temporarily withdrawal of gsp references for Belarus since June 2007. The cooperation of Belarusian state authorities with the ILO improved between 2009 and 2010, however, the capacity of trade unions of Belarus to defend workers’ interests in social dialogue remains very limited. After crackdown in December 2010 the president of the Federation of Trade Unions is on the list of Belarusian officials banned from entry in the EU.

7.5The Belarusian Confederation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (Employers) – the CIE – represents employers' interests in social dialogue. This confederation was created when the Belarusian Confederation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (BCIE) was reorganized by the Public Association into a non-profit organisation. It has about 700 members and 16,000 associate members. As most businesses in Belarus are still state-owned or state-controlled, the capacity of the CIE confederation to present the real interests of entrepreneurs and employers in Belarus independently of the government is far from being a reality.

7.6The Belarusian national platform of the EaP CSF was established at the conference on Eastern Partnership Roadmaps for Belarus in July 2010. Conference participants representing 32 Belarusian CSOs, including independent trade unions and business associations, agreed on topical objectives for civil society in Belarus and set forth the substantive priorities for work within four thematic areas of the EaP. These priorities serve as reference points for the “road maps”, which will be worked on further after the CSF national platform. The platform has established four working groups in line with the structure of the EaP CSF and the EaP thematic platforms. Even though the Belarusian national CSF platform did not approve formal rules of procedure, it managed effectively the process of selecting CSOs for the second CSF Forum in Berlin in November 2010. 94 CSOs from Belarus expressed their interest in taking part in the second meeting of the CSF in Berlin in November 2010. There are around 150 CSOs involved in the activities of the Belarusian CSF national platform. The Belarusian national platform has issued several statements calling on the government to respect human rights and to release political prisoners. This group gives its own independent statements and opinions about all recent developments in Belarus as well as participation of Belarus in EaP, and this position is not welcomed by the authorities. As yet, the government has ignored any activities of the national platform of the EaP CSF. As a counterweight to the national platform the group of officially recognized business and other organisations initiated establishment of so called nationwide platform of civil society.

8.Georgia

8.1Towards the end of 2007, the rule of President Mikhail Saakashvili – who led the “Rose Revolution” and became the President in 2004 – faced a major challenge when allegations of corruption and organising a murder triggered a wave of mass protests calling for early elections. Nevertheless Michail Saakashvilli brought forward the presidential elections to 5 January 2008, which he won in the first round (the election period ends in 2013). His party, the United National Movement, went on to win a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in May 2008 (the next elections will be held in 2012). The conflict with Russia in August 2008 led many Georgians who had previously been critical of Mr Saakashvili to rally behind him. After the conflict however, criticism of his role in starting the conflict increased, and several mass rallies were held by the opposition, demanding for him to step down. In October 2010, parliament passed constitutional changes curbing the power of the presidency, and boosting those of the Prime Minister and the government. Currently, Georgia's political system is undergoing transformation from a post-Soviet presidential system to a parliamentary system. The current government of Georgia states that relations with the EU are its foreign policy priority and sees full EU membership as the future for the country.

8.2An estimated 10,000 NGOs are registered in Georgia. One trend which has been occurring over the last few years is the growing divide between larger, more professional organisations and smaller, institutionally weak and passive NGOs, which make up the majority of the sector. NGOs are able to register and operate without arbitrary restrictions. They play an active role in public debate, though their influence has decreased somewhat under the current administration. Workers’ interests in social dialogue are represented by the Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC), which consists of 31 sectoral unions. These unions claim to have over 500,000 members. The GTUC is not affiliated to the government and receives no government funding. Political polarization has increased over the past couple of years, yet the GTUC has maintained its independence, advocating social dialogue. Employers’ interests in social dialogue are represented by the Georgia Employers’ Association (GEA). The GEA was founded in November 2000, and soon became the official social partner of the government and trade unions.

8.3The Georgian national platform of the EaP CSF was established in November 2010. It has adopted rules of procedure. Four working groups have been established in line with the structure of the CSF and the EaP thematic platforms. The Coordination Council of the national platform consists of nine members, i.e. one national coordinator and eight working group coordinators (each working group is represented by two coordinators). As of February 2011, circa 80 Georgian CSOs are members of the EaP CSF national platform, including trade unions, business associations and CSOs representing socio-economic interests. The government of Georgia is willing to cooperate with the national platform of the EaP CSF. In February 2011 the members of the Coordination Council held a meeting with the minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia. The minister and his office said that they were willing to assist the members of the EaP CSF national platform in Georgia, including facilitating the platform’s dialogue with state authorities and agencies.

9.Moldova

9.12009 was a turning point in the recent political history of Moldova: it ended the period of the Communist Party’s rule since 2001. The parliament elected in April 2009 failed to elect a new President. The total number of seats in the Moldovan parliament is 101, of which 51 votes are needed to elect the Speaker and Prime Minister, and 61 votes to elect the President. For this reason, the parliament was dissolved and early elections were held in July 2009. Even though the Communist Party won with 44.7 % of the vote with 48 MPs, 53 seats went to four opposition parties – the Liberal Democratic Party, Liberal Party, Democratic Party, and Our Moldova Alliance – which together formed the new government under the name of Alliance for European Integration. After the early 2010 elections, the Alliance increased its majority from 53 seats to 59 seats. Although the Our Moldova Alliance did not return to parliament, the leaders of the three remaining parties of the Alliance for European Integration signed a new coalition agreement on 30 December 2010. The next parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2014. The re-elected coalition government led by Prime Minister Vlad Filat has launched an ambitious reform programme with the aim of improving Moldova’s economic performance as well as strengthening democratic standards in domestic politics. EU accession is a foreign policy priority for Moldova: it is as an intrinsic part of the country’s complex modernisation process to move in line with European standards.

9.2A total of 7,000 Moldovan NGOs are registered at national and local levels. NGOs are active in a broad range of fields, although almost half are involved in the social and education sectors. Collaboration between the government and civil society has increased, beginning with the July 2009 parliamentary elections and the formation of the new governmental coalition Alliance for European Integration. NGOs and parliamentary commissions increasingly work together in the legislative drafting process and in ad hoc working groups. About half of the work force in Moldova is unionised. Two union confederations, the independent Trade Union Confederation of Moldova (TUCM) and the former communist government-sponsored Confederation of Free Trade Unions Solidaritate (Solidarity) vied for members, with the government reportedly pressed union members to move the latter. Since 2007 trade unions in Moldova have been unified in a single national organization-National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova (CNSM). The new coalition government formed after the July 2009 elections stopped interference in trade union affairs. Employers' interests in social dialogue are represented by the National Confederation of Moldovan Employers (NCME), which is a member of the International Organisation of Employers.

9.3The Moldovan national platform of the EaP CSF was established in March 2011. It has formed four working groups in line with the structure of the CSF and the EaP thematic platforms. The EaP national platform cooperates with the National Participation Council. The fact that the National Participation Council was created demonstrates the political willingness of the Moldovan government to cooperate with CSOs. As from the July 2009 parliamentary elections, CSO representatives have been involved in drafting strategic government documents in the field of European integration, e.g. the activity programme of the Moldovan government on European integration: “Freedom, Democracy, Welfare”; the medium-term development action plan “Rethink Moldova”; the Economic Stabilization and Recovery Program 2009–2011, etc. Cooperation between the government and CSOs was strengthened through the establishment of a permanent platform for dialogue on European integration called the National Participation Council (NPC), which is made up of 30 CSOs working in various fields. The NPC chair has the right to attend all meetings of the Moldovan Cabinet of Ministers and to voice the NPC position on governmental draft decisions and policies. The majority of the NPC organisations are members of the EaP CSF and, at the same time, the NPC Chair is a member of the Steering Committee of the EaP CSF. However, as yet no trade unions or business associations have become a member of the Moldovan national platform of the EaP CSF.

10.Ukraine

10.1The 2010 presidential elections in Ukraine ended the period of rule of political leaders who were brought to power by the “Orange Revolution” in 2004. Between 2004 and 2009, Ukrainian politics was affected by a conflict between former President Victor Yushchenko and former PM Yuliya Tymoshenko, which did not allow for the required reforms to be implemented and consequently led to growing public disappointment. Victor Yanukovych, the political leader of the Party of Regions, won the 2010 elections and was made President in February 2010. In September 2010 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine concluded that the amendments to the Ukrainian constitution that were made on 8 December 2004 were unconstitutional. This act has restored a presidential system in the Ukraine with a high concentration of power in the hands of the President and the President's office. The Party of the Regions (180 MPs), together with the People’ Party (20 MPs), Communists (25 MPs) and a group of independent MPs, form a majority coalition known as Stability and Reform which consists of 235 MPs out of a total of 450 MPs. The government, led by PM Nikolay Azarov, managed to get a standby loan from the IMF in order to cope with economic crises and to push for some important reforms, such as a reform of taxation, administration, and the judiciary. The next parliamentary elections are to be held in 2012 followed by the presidential elections in 2015. European integration remains a top foreign policy priority, but it is stressed that this cannot be done at the expense of good relations with Russia.

10.2According to government statistics, the number of registered CSOs in Ukraine is around 52,000. Ukraine has one of the most vibrant civil societies in the region. Citizens are increasingly taking issues into their own hands, e.g. protesting against unwanted construction, exposing corruption, and advocating their interests at both national and local level. In Ukraine, there are two major trade union associations that are part of social dialogue with the government and employers. The Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine represents 40 national-level industrial trade unions, while the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine has 69 trade unions as members, though only 6 are national-level unions. Employers’ interests in social dialogue are represented by the Federation of Employers of Ukraine (FEU), which was established by 23 employers associations in 2009.

10.3The Ukrainian national platform of the EaP CSF was established in January 2011. The founding conference was attended by participants representing more than 70 CSOs, including some trade union organisations. The participants adopted Memoranda on the creation of the EaP CSF National Platform in Ukraine. The conference established four working groups for the national platform, in line with the structure of the four EaP thematic platforms. The Coordination Council – which consists of 9 members including a national CSF coordinator for Ukraine – was also elected. Although representatives from business and employers' organisations were also invited, they have shown limited interest, due to their perception that the National Tripartite Social and Economic Council of Ukraine already has a sufficiently strong role. At the same time, major business organisations and trade unions are complaining that they are not given enough information on the Eastern Partnership. Establishing regular dialogue with the government remains one of the main tasks for the Ukrainian national platform of the EaP CSF.

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