European Economic and Social Committee

Group III – SMEs, Professions and Crafts Category

Brussels, 28 January 2016

NOTICE OF MEETING SMEs, Professions and Crafts Category

Panagiotis Gkofas, spokesperson of the SMEs, Crafts and the Professions Category, invites you to attend the morning session of the category meeting to be held at the Committee in room JDE 63 on Wednesday 3 February 2016 beginning at 9 a.m. The meeting will end at 1 p.m.

The draft agenda is as follows:

Adoption of the draft agenda

Mr Gkofas – introduction to the long term objectives and the category's draft 2016 annual work programme

Appointment of Arno Metzler as spokesperson for the Liberal Professions in the Category

FIRST PANEL

Luca De Carli, Policy Officer, DG TRADE, DGA2.G.1, Trade Strategy – SME chapter in TTIP negotiations

Maria Pia Vigliarolo, Policy Officer, DG GROW, DDG2.H.1, COSME Programme, SME Envoys and Relations with EASME – Past, present and future of EU SME policies

Wojciech Sopinski, Policy Officer, DG GROW, H/2, SME Access to Markets – Internationalisation of SMEs' opportunities, partnership

Éva Dimovné Keresztes DG AGRI, H.1, Consistency of rural development, Policy analysis and Coordination– Role and perspectives of SMEs in EU rural development policies and investment opportunities

Coffee break

EESC-2016-00102-00-02-CONVPOJ-TRA (EN) 1/22 SECOND PANEL

Presentation of each member's expectations for the category (3 minutes)

Synthesis of the proposals for a draft annual work programme for the category

Recommendations for new EESC work on SMEs and crafts

Date of the next meeting

Conclusions of the meeting

Interpreting: EL-EN-FR into EL-EN-FR

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N.B.: Members are asked to sign the attendance list in order to ensure that their travel and subsistence expenses are refunded.

Members who are unable to attend this meeting are kindly asked to notify the secretariat in advance so that interpreters do not attend unnecessarily.

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