On 28 May 2013 the Sixth Joint Seminar of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) was held in Brussels.
Speakers included First Deputy Secretary of the Civic Chamber Mikhail Ostrovskiy, EESC President Henri Malosse, Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the EU Alexander Krestiyanov, senior officials of the European External Action Service and the European Commission, prominent political researchers and economists from Russia and EU member states, as well as representatives of a number of NGOs.
Participants discussed the whole range of Russia-EU relations and progress in the negotiations on the New Basic Agreement and expressed their strong support for abolition of the visa regime in a shortest term. Furthermore, some other topical issues, such as Russia-EU trade and economic cooperation in the context of Russia’s WTO membership, collaboration in the field of human rights and Arctic cooperation have been addressed.
The event demonstrated the interest of the civil societies of Russia and EU member states in further development and expanding the scope of their cooperation.
