The CoR's plenary session adopted today by overwhelming majority the draft opinion on the Review of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), 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). This opinion, which concerns the EU's political and economic cooperation with its 16 closest Eastern and Southern Neighbours, that is to say Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to the East as well as Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia to 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. "The EU should not turn its back on social and political tensions, but proactively 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 opinion Anne Quart stresses that cities and regions can provide valuable knowledge on how to promote social and economic cohesion and should therefore be better involved in the design and implementation of the ENP. "The Committee of the Regions can lead by example and foster dialogue through already existing forms of cooperation", she said, referring to the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) and to the Ukraine Task Force.
The rapporteur also stresses that European regional and local authorities should be more closely involved in the 'New Partnership Framework with third countries', proposed by the European Commission in June, with a view to tackle the root causes of migration by mobilising investment, stepping-up technical assistance and supporting economic and structural reforms. PES Group member, Peter Bossman (Mayor of Piran, Slovenia) is drafting an opinion on the matter to be adopted by the Committee of the Regions in early 2017.
Moreover, she argues that the European financing aid to ENP programmes must be substantially increased and allocated in the light of regional needs to concrete projects which "create bridges between citizens".
Anne Quart also 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, she 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 developing renewable energy and energy efficiency in order to reduce "energy poverty" which affects many households in the region.
