EU PROPOSES EASTERN PARTNERSHIP TO SOUTH CAUCASUS STATES, UKRAINE AND MOLDOVA

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.12.2008 18:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Commission’s proposal for a new Eastern
Partnership represents a step change in the EU’s relations with
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus , Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. This
ambitious Partnership foresees a substantial upgrading of the
level of political engagement, including the prospect of a new
generation of Association Agreements, far-reaching integration into
the EU economy, easier travel to the EU for citizens providing that
security requirements are met, enhanced energy security arrangements
benefitting all concerned, and increased financial assistance. The EU
proposes much more intensive day to day support for partners’ reform
efforts through a new Comprehensive Institution Building program,
and a new multilateral dimension which will bring partners together to
address common challenges. The new Partnership includes new measures
to support the social and economic development of the 6 countries,
and five flagship initiatives that will give very concrete evidence
of the EU’s support, the press office of the European Commission in
Yerevan told PanARMENIAN.Net.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso stated, "Only
with strong political will and commitment on both sides will the
Eastern Partnership achieve its objective of political association
and economic integration. We need to make an even greater investment
in mutual stability and prosperity. This will be quickly compensated
by important political and economic benefits and will lead to more
stability and security both for the EU and for our Eastern partners."

"The time is ripe to open a new chapter in relations with our
Eastern neighbors," Commissioner for External Relations and European
Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner added. "Building on
the progress of the last years we have prepared an ambitious and
at the same time well-balanced offer. The security and stability
of the EU is affected by events taking place in Eastern Europe and
in the Southern Caucasus. Our policy towards these countries should
be strong, proactive and unequivocal. The EU will continue with the
successful approach of tailor-made programs on a new scale and add a
strong multilateral dimension. It remains our principle though that
progress must go hand in hand with reform efforts by our partners,
but this new package also offers more intensive assistance to help
them meet their goals."

The European Commission is willing to pull the EU’s six post-Soviet
neighbors closer to the West by recognizing their "European
aspirations" and creating a new "European Economic Area." But a draft
communique indicates that EU-Russia relations have preferential status.

The new EU policy – first floated by Poland and Sweden in May –
proposes signing "Association Agreements" with Belarus, Moldova,
Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in the next few years and to
"acknowledge the European identity and aspirations of these countries."

The draft communique underlines that the new pacts, which recall
the association treaties signed with Poland or Lithuania prior to
the 2004 round of enlargement, do not amount to a promise of future
accession. "The conclusion of Association Agreements will be without
prejudice to the partners’ European aspirations."

The moves include establishing "a single deep and comprehensive Free
Trade Area, providing the basis for the development of a common
internal market, such as the European Economic Area [EEA]," which
the EU currently has with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.

The Eastern Partnership will aim to create visa free travel in the
long-term, but to waive the cost of obtaining EU visas more quickly
and to set up Common Application Centers in the six countries to help
people enter the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone.

The draft communique proposes holding an "Eastern Partnership
Summit" in June 2009 to launch the project. Follow-up meetings of
EU and Eastern Partnership foreign ministers are to take place each
Spring. "Senior officials" from the "27 + 5(6)" countries are to meet
twice-yearly to prepare for the ministerials.

The European Partnership is to raise the EU’s per capita spending in
the region from the current â~B¬6 per head to â~B¬12 per head by 2013
and â~B¬20 per head by 2020, compared to the current â~B¬30 per head
in the Balkans. The shift will cost â~B¬2.1 billion, atop the lost
income of â~B¬75 million per year as a result of waiving EU visa costs.

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