The CoR Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX) adopted today by overwhelming majority the draft opinion on the Review of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), elaborated by PES member Anne Quart, State Secretary for Europe and Consumer Protection in the Ministry of Justice, European Affairs and Consumer Protection of the Land of Brandenburg (Germany).
It responds to the European Commission's reexamination of the EU's political and economic cooperation with its 16 closest Eastern and Southern Neighbours, that is, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine at the East as well as Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia at the South.
"Given the numerous instabilities in many of our partner countries, setting out an ambitious and forward-looking neighbourhood policy is one of the greatest challenges in the EU's external relations", pointed out the rapporteur. "We need to tackle the root causes of these instabilities: unfair socio-economic distribution of wealth, youth unemployment and the abuse of civil rights, all of which push many citizens of those countries to look for a better life elsewhere", she urged.
In her draft opinion, the rapporteur stresses that local and regional authorities – in particular in cross-border regions - can provide valuable knowledge on how to promote social and economic cohesion and they should be better involved in the design and implementation of the ENP. In this context, she points to the important role of the Committee of the Regions in fostering dialogue and contributing to more effective partnerships, in particular through the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP), and the CoR’s Ukraine Task Force.
"Democratic and human rights standards can neither be imposed from outside nor imposed from above, but have to develop from the ground up’, she emphasised, stressing also the need to involve more closely citizens and local civil society associations in the process.
Likewise, the rapporteur argues that European financing aid to ENP programmes must be substantially increased and allocated in the light of regional needs to concrete projects which have a positive impact on the daily lives of citizens in the neighborhood countries.
Furthermore, the rapporteur stresses that the need for more concrete projects that demonstrate to the populations of these countries the tangible benefits of the ENP.
While stressing that the multilateral dimension of the ENP is indispensable, Anne Quart calls for a tailor-made and more differentiated approach for each of the ENP countries, aimed at better reflecting different ambitions, abilities and interests, and thereby promoting an increased ownership by partner countries.
Last but not least, the rapporteur advocates strengthened cooperation in the field of energy, which is of strategic and economic importance for many of the ENP countries, focusing on projects aimed at develop renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The draft opinion, which has been enriched by exchanges of views between the rapporteur and ambassadors from various partner countries as well as with the European Parliament's Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Elmar Brok (EPP/Germany), and high level officials of the European Commission as well as of the European External Action Service (EEAS), is scheduled to be adopted at the October CoR plenary session.
