On May 3 we participated in a meeting with the Governmental Expert Group and the Commission together with the Equality Networks AGE Platform, EWL, ENAR and ILGA-Europe to discuss the next Equality Summit in Nicosia, Cyprus on November 22-23.

The Commission informed the member states that the Summit is a joint event by the Commission and the Presidency and that they expect it to be a high level event with the participation of Ministers and not desk officers.

The Cyprus presidency presented their plans for the Summit. The theme will be 'Equality for Growth' with a focus on accessibility and equality policies, economic and social cohesion, and to improve synergies with the Europe 2020 Strategy and its targets on employment, education and combating poverty. The aim is to show how diversity and equality can lead to economic development and growth, and promote creativity and innovation. The methods will be mainly plenary sessions with some workshops engaging all stakeholders involved.

Pierre Baussand, Director of Social Platform delivered the following key messages:

• We agree with the Commission and the Presidency that the Summit has to be a high level meeting with clear political messages
• We would like to see the messages of the Summit linking to the EPSCO Council's discussion in December on the Annual Growth Survey to support the Country Specific Recommendations
• The theme needs to be linked to the Europe 2020 Strategy's headline targets of employment, education and social inclusion and not to growth in itself
• Equality must be seen as an engine/driving force in itself - where one of the consequences and outcomes of equality is growth
• Our members have the experience and expertise to contribute with examples which we can provide to the Presidency and Commission

Other speakers:

• Equinet Europe: Welcomed the theme but also made the point that equality must be presented as a driving force and a pre-requisite in itself, the right-based approach needs to remain. Also important to highlight the detrimental effects of non-compliance to equality.
• EWL: Mentioned investment of gender equality for sustainable economic development and quotas of women on company boards as important issues to focus on
• ENAR: highlighted the need to define what we mean with diversity and equality
• ILGA-Europe: stressed the need to invite stakeholders beyond civil society and use round-tables as a format to stimulate discussions
• AGE Platform: mentioned the need to focus on elder peoples access to employment

Also invited was ETUC, UEAPME and Business Europe.

For further information on Social Platform's involvement in the Equality Summit please contact Annica Ryngbeck.