WG2 has a number of policy priorities which it seeks to further promote in the EaP’s agenda, including:

• Creating a favorable regulatory and economic environment for SMEs through the implementation of structural reforms;
• Addressing dysfunctionalities in the financial sector and gaps in access to finance for SMEs;
• Supporting the creation of job opportunities at national, regional, and local levels;
• Supporting equal employment opportunities for both men and women;
• Fostering the harmonisation of partner countries’ digital markets;
• Supporting easy and affordable access to the internet, namely in rural areas, through the development and implementation of broadband strategies;
• Promoting the participation of consumer protection organisations in developing, implementing and monitoring new national action plans;
• Mainstreaming the principles of sustainable development across all policy areas and introducing adequate responses to climate change;
• Supporting partner countries’ efforts to become members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Membership of the EaP CSF is open to all civil society organisations from the EaP countries, and to organisations based in EU member states that are active in the Eastern Neighbourhood. These can include grassroots organisations, trade unions, farmers’ and consumers’ organisations, think tanks, employers’ organisations, professional associations, faith-based organisations, non-profit foundations and more. Browse through the full list of Working Group 2 members below.

Working Group 2 meets twice a year – once in Brussels or an EaP country, and again during the Forum’s Annual Assembly – to discuss the common goals and activities that have been put forward through the respective Working Group structures of the EaP CSF National Platforms. The latest WG2 meeting reports can be viewed and downloaded below.

At the beginning of each biennial delegate cycle, the delegates of each WG elect two Coordinators from among their number – one representing an organisation from an EaP country, and one representing an organisation from an EU member state. The role of WG Coordinators is to oversee and facilitate the work of the WG, including by formulating the discussion, advocacy and capacity building priorities of the group, in close collaboration with its members. The details of the current WG Coordinators for the 2020-2021 cycle can be viewed below.