• Jaan Reinhold, ‎Ambassador-at-Large for the Eastern Partnership and Director, Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership
• Hennadiy Maksak, Head, Ukrainian Prism, Co-Chair, EaP CSF Steering Committee

Panelists:

• Jeff Lovitt, Chair, New Diplomacy
• Hanna Hopko, Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee, Verkhovna Rada
• Alexandra Kalatozishvili, Multiethnic Resource Center for Civic Education Development, EaP CSF Steering Committee/ Kakha Gogolashvili, Director of EU Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, EaP CSF Steering Committee, Georgia
• Katarina Mathernová, Deputy Director General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission
• Marian Lupu, Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Assembly EURONEST (TBC)

Moderator: Urmo Kübar, Adviser on Civil Society, Office of the President of Estonia; former head of the Estonian Union of Non-Profit organisations; European Citizens’ Prize winner 2013

1. Prospects of Regional and Economic Integration in the EaP Countries

This panel will focus on economic development and integration of the countries within the EaP region. How do the bilateral agreements of the EaP countries with the EU contribute to regional economic integration? How does the interplay between the DCFTA countries and the Eurasian Economic Union shape the economic development of the region? What is the role of civil society in supporting economic integration and development in the EaP countries, as well as in helping to achieve the relevant goals from the 20 Deliverables for 2020?

Panelists:

• Tsisnami Sabadze, Head of Economic Policy Department, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia
• Iryna Tochitskaya, IPM, Belarus
• Luc van Looveren, Flemish Chamber of Commerce
• Guillaume Van der Loo, CEPS

Moderator: Kataryna Wolczuk, Professor, University of Birmingham

2. Media and Disinformation in the EaP and the EU

This panel will focus on media quality, self-regulation of the media sector, and methods of confronting disinformation in shaping public opinion and fostering deliberative public discussion. It will also cover topics such as media literacy, as well as the role of and support for citizen media.  Which support do the independent media outlets need? What is the role of the public service broadcasters? What can the media communities in the EU and the EaP countries learn from each other in the field of confronting propaganda?

Panelists:

• Anneli Kimber/Janis Rugulis, StratCom East Task Force, EEAS
• Celia Davies, Strategy & Communications Manager, Meydan TV, Germany
• Raul Rebane, independent media & communications expert
• Andriy Kulakov, Program Director, Internews Ukraine

Moderator: Boris Navasardian, President, Yerevan Press Club, EaP CSF Steering Committee, Armenia 

3. Digital Tools for Democratic Governance

This panel will focus on the use of digital tools in involving communities and civil society organisations into decision-making and developing ideas for policy improvements. It will cover the benefits and setbacks countries have faced when using digital participatory tools, including participatory budgeting, citizen engagement portals, and online services. How can governments and civil society organizations best ensure that rural communities and other groups with less access to digital tools are not further marginalized by the increased use of digital participatory tools? Is there any fundamental tension between respecting the privacy and data rights of citizens using digital tools while also promoting transparency and openness? Have there been any difficulties in establishing the rules of expression on participatory platforms? Are governments and civil society organizations overly dependent on commercial digital infrastructure, or have they been able to work harmoniously with the private sector in driving innovation forward?

Panelists:

• David Marghania, EBRD/UNCITRAL Public Procurement Initiative
• Elchin Huseynli, Deputy Director, State Agency for Service and Social Innovation, Azerbaijan (TBC)
• Teele Pehk, CEO, Estonian Cooperation Initiative
• Liia Hanni, Estonian e-Governance Academy

Moderator: Hille Hinsberg, Expert, Praxis

4. Taking Government-Civil Society Relations Forward

The panel will focus on cooperation models and involvement practices that have been successful in the EaP countries. It will identify ways to overcome obstacles to regular and beneficial dialogue between the public sector and civil society while also determining how to build legitimate networks and coalitions for partnering with governments. How can trust be built among CSOs and governments? How can one ensure that civil society’s voice is heard and its expertise taken into account in policymaking? How can the CSO-government partnership be improved? What else can civil society do to deliver results for ordinary people—whether by itself or in partnership with other actors?

Panelists:

• Julia Ivahina, National Anti-Corruption Bureau, Ukraine
• Giorgi Klidiashvili, Open Government Partnership
• Beata Jaczewska, Visegrad Fund, Director (TBC)
• Maria Golubeva, Independent expert, EaP CSF Steering Committee, Latvia

Moderator: Maris Jõgeva, Executive Director, Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organisations

1. Mainstreaming gender in the EaP and the EU

How does the lack of gender equality legislation hinder the protection and promotion of human rights? How does the civil society mainstream gender within its own platforms and bodies? How can the civil society contribute to the preparation and implementation of the Gender Action Plans in the EaP countries in the best way?

• Svetlana Karaleva, Chair, BOWW, Belarus
• Estonian Women’s Studies and Resource Centre (ENUT)

Moderator: Haykuhi Harutyunyan, President, Protection of Rights without Borders, EaP CSF Steering Committee, Armenia

Rapporteur: Maria Golubeva, EaP CSF Steering Committee, Latvia

2. SMEs – How to Benefit from Access to the EU Single Market?

How to prepare EaP SMEs for the challenges of the EU Single Market? How can experience-sharing with the EU member states contribute to this process? How can the civil society facilitate and assist the strengthening of the SMEs in the region?

• Nino Elizbarashvili, President, Association of Women in Business, Georgia
• Ludmila Stuparu, Program Coordinator, Center for Innovation and Policies, Moldova
• EVEA (Estonian SME Association)

Moderator: Yurii Vdovenko, Head of the Board, The Center for Cross-Border Cooperation, EaP CSF Steering Committee, Ukraine

Rapporteur: Dovile Sukyte, Acting Director, Eastern Europe Studies Centre, Co-Chair, EaP CSF Steering Committee, Lithuania

3. Effectively Monitoring Energy Regulators/Smart Waste Management

To what extent the membership/candidate status in the Energy Community, and Association Agreements have contributed to the design and establishment of well-functioning energy regulators in the EaP countries? How can the watchdogging experience of the EU civil society in the field of governance and performance of energy regulators be replicated in the EaP countries? How can the implementation of the new laws on waste management under the Association Agreements reduce negative environmental impact of households?

• Otilia Nuțu, Energy Watchdog Coalition
• Estonian Environmental Law Center (EELC) (tbc)

Moderator:  TBD

• Oleksandra Gumeniuk, Good Deeds, Ukraine
• Estonian Environmental Law Center (tbc)

Moderator and Rapporteur: Ina Coșeru, National Environmental Center, EaP CSF Steering Committee, Moldova

4. Youth empowerment – encouraging civic activism and youth mobility

How to encourage civic activism among young people in the countries with security risks for the activists? How to ensure that the youth is well informed about the mobility opportunities provided by the EU? How to better engage the disadvantaged and vulnerable youth in the existing and future programmes and initiatives?

• Grigor Yeritsyan, Armenian Progressive Youth
• Estonian National Youth Council (ENL) or Estonian LEADER Union

Moderator: Mariia Symonova, MITLA Agency of Changes (CleanUniversities anti-corruption campaign)

Rapporteur: Nikolai Kvantaliani, Association «New Group», Belarus

5. How the social dialogue contributes to optimizing labour migration?

What is the background of the problem of labour migration in the region? How do state authorities both of the EU and EaP countries tackle it? To what extent are the trade unions in the EaP countries included/excluded to/from the dialogue on labour migration?

• Siarhei Antusevich, Belarusian Congress Of Democratic Trade Unions
• Dzmitry Babicki, CASE Belarus
• Estonian Trade Union Confederation (tbc)

Moderator: Goda Neverauskaitė, European Trade Union Confederation

Rapporteur: Laura Ernšteina, European Economic and Social Committee, External Relations Secretariat (REX) (tbc)

• WG1: Democracy, human rights, good governance and stability
• WG2: Economic integration and convergence with EU policies
• WG3: Environment, climate change and energy security
• WG4: Contacts between people
• WG5: Social & Labour Policies and Social Dialogue