Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

The Eastern Partnership turned 11 in May. This foreign policy format of the EU cooperation with its neighbours was launched on May 7, 2009, at the initiative of Poland and Sweden. It covers 27 EU member states and six Eastern European nations — Azerbaijan, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The initial goal of this format was to strengthen cooperation between the countries of Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus with the EU and renew the legal framework of relations by replacing partnership and cooperation agreements with association agreements, creating deep and comprehensive free trade zones, visa liberalization between the EU and partner countries. During the 11 years of the Eastern Partnership, each of the participating countries has achieved its independent results in the integration with the EU. The current Eastern Partnership program «20 Deliverables for 2020», which identified key areas of cooperation between the EU and partner countries, also finishes this year. Therefore, it is time to sum up and form new principles of future cooperation.

How does the EU assess the EaP format and the achievements within it?

Speaking about the Eastern Partnership policy, Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Eoropean Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, in a material for Europeyska Pravda outlined the achievements of this format as following:

-    since the beginning of the Association Agreement, the volume of EU’s trade with Ukraine has increased by 49%;
-    a visa-free regime has been launched, and due to it almost 3 million Ukrainian citizens with biometric passports have visited the European Union without a visa;
-    Ukraine is one of the largest beneficiaries of the Erasmus + program in the Eastern Partnership region: more than 9,000 Ukrainian and almost 4,000 European students, researchers and teachers enjoyed academic exchange opportunities;
-    since 2014, the European Union and its financial institutions have raised more than €15 billion in grants and loans to support Ukraine’s reforms.

Since June 2019 the European Commission has initiated consultations with representatives of civil society, government, business and the media from the Eastern Partnership countries in order to jointly form long-term goals. These consultations resulted in a draft of the New Eastern Partnership Policy framework.

What are the main directions of the New Policy in the framework of the Eastern Partnership?

To meet the challenges of the time and be as human-oriented as possible, new EaP policy outlines 5 main directions:
-    sustainable economy;
-    rule of law and security;
-    environmental protection and climate resilience;
-    digital transformation;
-    inclusive society.

What exactly do new EaP policy has to implement in these areas?

-    In the field of economics — to deepen economic integration and increase trade. The EU will support the full implementation of the free trade agreement with Ukraine.
-    The EU will also promote a green economy among partners. The European Union will help its partners to modernize production, reduce harmful emissions into the environment, and fulfil the obligations under the Paris Agreement.