CAL urged for principles of good governance to be observed in selection procedures
03.06.2020

On May 11, the Civic Alliance - Latvia (CAL) sent an opinion to the Cabinet of Ministers on the draft regulations of the Cabinet “Procedures for nominating, selecting, evaluating and approving representatives from Latvia for membership in the European Economic and Social Committee.” In its opinion, the CAL drew the attention of the Cabinet to the principles of good governance and selecting representatives from Latvia in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the basis of fair procedures and reasonable criteria in an open competition, so that the representatives of Latvia meet the established requirements and ensure the widest possible representation of interest groups in Brussels.
Accordingly, the LPA urges:

1. Review the representation provided in all three groups: Employers, Employees and Groups of Various Interests. At present, Latvia is represented in the Employers' Group (Group I) and the Employees' Group (Group II) by social partners. However, in essence, other non-governmental organisations could also provide representation. As in Group I, for example, it would be necessary to provide a voice of the agricultural sector and a voice of entrepreneurs.

2. Not to include in Clause 4 of the Regulations of the Cabinet “Out-of-competition candidates elected to one of the Committee positions (EESC President, Presidents of Groups I, II, III, Heads of Sections, Bureau Members)” that would be contrary to the principles of good governance, fairness and equal opportunities.

Only partially taking into account the objections of the CAL, at the sitting of 19 May 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted the Regulations of the Cabinet “Procedures for selecting representatives from Latvia for participation in the European Economic and Social Committee”.