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6. Civil Society Expert Group on EU Trade Agreements
When appropriate, the CTEO works in liaison with the European External Action Service, is supported by the EU Delegations and seeks out complementary information from relevant international bodies. If non-compliance of the trading partner persists and serious problems remain after these steps, the European Parliament or the Council could call upon the Commission to take steps to terminate the Agreement.
Considering the high-profile engagement with the civil society sponsored by our position paper, we consider that the expert group on EU trade agreements put in place by the Commission in 2017 and whose mandate expired in 2019 should be reinstated. Its role was to provide extra advice to the Commission during trade negotiations and the implementation of trade agreements. The group included employers' organisations, trade unions, representative associations, socio-economic interest groups (like consumer associations) and other civil society organisations.
