Articles related to "The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) [Archived]"

The European Commission yesterday (15 April) launched a new television channel to promote its neighbourhood policy and boost the visibility of EU-funded projects in the Mediterranean region.

The European Commission is working on an 'Eastern Partnership' with Ukraine, Georgia and other countries lying on its eastern borders, diplomats and EU officials have announced.

The EU and other international donors yesterday pledged €3.5 billion to rebuild conflict-hit Georgia and boost its ailing economy in return for democratic reforms. At the same time, the European Commission announced that Georgia-Russia peace talks would continue in Geneva on 18 November

Heads of state from 43 countries launched the Mediterranean Union on Sunday, breathing life into a project dear to French President Nicolas Sarkozy which initially drew heavy criticism from his European partners.

A new proposal by Sweden and Poland to strengthen the EU's ties with its eastern neighbours to be officially presented today is not meant to undermine but rather enhance existing EU policies, according to a draft paper obtained by EurActiv.

Not much is left of high-flying French plans for a 'Union for the Mediteranean' as the Commission yesterday presented its proposals on the initiative, allaying fears that it would be a closed club directed against Turkey.

The Commission is to reward the best-performing countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) with an upgrade in bilateral ties, including an increase in financial assistance, External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said at a press conference yesterday (3 April).

Sooner or later, Ukraine will become a member of the European Union, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, speaking at a conference in Brussels on 10 March, where she received assurances from the EU that bilateral relations are making substantial progress.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has lent support to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s idea for creating a Mediterranean Union, but in exchange received his assurance, that this will be project of all 27 member states.

The EU and Ukraine have agreed on the terms for Ukrainian accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), paving the way for membership as early as this year.

External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner has welcomed a coalition agreement reached between pro-European political parties in Ukraine. The two parties said they had enough votes to back Yulia Tymoshenko as the next prime minister.

At a bilateral summit in Kiev, the EU has reiterated its call for Ukraine to uphold democratic standards and form a government swiftly following its parliamentary elections on 30 September, in a move that is anticipated to end the ongoing political crisis.  

A stable political situation following the September general elections is what it will take to bring Ukraine swiflty into the WTO and finalise an 'enhanced agreement' with the EU, said External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner after a meeting with Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Brussels.

EU leaders have welcomed the political agreement between president and prime minister to hold early elections in Ukraine and hope for a quick resolution of the country's political crisis.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso has urged that a solution be found to the political crisis in Ukraine, warning President Yushchenko that a continuation of the crisis might delay negotiations on a new enhanced agreement. Meanwhile, Yushchenko's rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych  sought European support in Strasbourg.

President Viktor Yushchenko's decision to dissolve parliament and hold new elections has been condemned by pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. The EU is calling for a democratic settlement of the crisis as it seeks to build stronger ties with the troubled former Soviet state, notably in energy.

President Mikhail Saakashvili and Commission President José Manuel Barroso have vowed to step up EU-Georgian relations, but some European leaders say that the EU is not doing enough under the European neighbourhood policy framework.

Romania President Traian Basescu’s wish for a Moldovan EU membership perspective failed to find substantial backing in the European Parliament.

The forthcoming presidency will focus on further developing the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and come up with an initiative for Central Asia.

More than 400,000 Moldovans have applied for Romanian citizenship following the relaxation of the visa regime.

The Commission has proposed an environmental strategy to fight pollution and environmental degradation in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

In the run-up to the 19 March presidential vote, an atmosphere of fear and tension prevails in Belarus. Incumbent President Lukashenka is widely expected to win a third term. The west, meanwhile, is weighing its options.

Protests and scuffles by the fledgling opposition mark the buildup to the 19 March election day in Belarus. The Commission is "watching extremely closely."

Voicing concern about the Belarusian authorities' conduct in the run-up to the March presidential elections, an Austrian Presidency politician tells MEPs in Strasbourg that "our work on Belarus has to be framed in the long term."

The leader of Belarus's main opposition coalition, Alexander Milinkevich, is holding a series of high-level but low-key meetings in Brussels. He has widespread political backing from the EU institutions.

The EU Presidency is calling for a negotiated solution to the latest natural gas price dispute between Russia and Moldova. Bulgaria and Turkey are also affected.

The EU should improve its transport links to its neighbours through a "mix of infrastructure projects and simpler measures", says a new report. The project would carry a price tag of 45 billion euros.

The Commission has expressed satisfaction over the European Neighbourhood Policy's progress last year, and is preparing to move the process forward.

Visa bans and asset freezes are among the sanctions the EU may introduce against Belarus in an effort to promote greater openness to democracy in the former Soviet republic.

A new report gives vital information for managing migration flows from the Mediterranean.

Commission President Barroso wants to send an EU diplomat to monitor human rights in Belarus.

The arrests of members of the Polish minority in Belarus are an indication of the growing fears of President Lukashenka that Poland will support the opposition.

The European Commission's official assessment of the state of play one year after enlargement is upbeat, but the divisive issues are piling up, and a sense of enlargement fatigue seems to have set in.

Officials in Brussels and Moscow are working hard to bring about a breakthrough in EU-Russia relations. The 10 May summit in Moscow could produce a long-awaited partnership accord. Remaining sticking points include visa facilitation and Siberia overflight rights.

On his first official visit to Moscow, Commission President José Manuel Barroso met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks in preparation of the scheduled 15th Russia-EU summit on 10 May.

It is "time for change to come to Belarus", the "last true dictatorship" in central Europe, according to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The leaders of Belarus beg to differ.

A recent poll has found that popular support in Europe is greater for Ukraine to join the EU than it is for Turkey to do so.

Under the European Neighbourhood Policy process, the Commission has recommended an intensification of relations with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia and Lebanon. 

Outlining his government's objectives for 2005 and after, Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that Kiev aims to begin EU entry talks by 2007.

Under the EU's European Neighbourhood Policy, the Moldova action plan has been approved by the bilateral co-operation council.

The Commission's updated Ukraine Action Plan does not amount to a full review, and any bid by Kiev for full membership of the EU remains a matter for the future. However, such a prospect is "realistic".

Hot on the heels of his scheduled inauguration as president of Ukraine this weekend, Viktor Yushchenko aims to launch a campaign to bring his country into the EU.

The Parliament has given overwhelming support to a resolution that would offer a "clear European perspective" to Ukraine. The Commission, however, says that Kiev's membership is "not on the agenda".

Kiev has signalled to the EU its dissatisfaction with the latest new neighbourhood Action Plan. Brussels may find Ukraine knocking on the EU's door sooner than it would like to admit. 

Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner has presented a set of new EU action plans that aim to reach out to seven of the Union's new neighbours.

The crisis in Ukraine has brought to the fore the question of whether the EU should move to offer the country a place in the Union or take a more 'wait and see' attitude.

The two main contenders will meet for a 2nd round on 21 November after no clear winner emerged from the 1st round. The elections process was criticised for failing to meet democratic standards.

Concluding seven years of negotiations, the EU has signed a wide-ranging 'association agreement' on political and economic co-operation with Syria.

The EU is still a long way from achieving the objectives it set itself with its European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), write Antonio Missiroli and Rosa Balfour, director and senior policy analyst at the European Policy Centre (EPC) respectively, in a February paper.

The Abkhazian conflict has deteriorated to such an extent that there is a danger of renewed clashes in the region. Moreover, this will continue unless a credible international negotiating format is put in place, argue Ron Asmus of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and others in a June 2008 commentary.

The French EU Presidency's aim to boost the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is "an opportunity to change the nature of the EU's relationship with the whole of its immediate neighbourhood," according to Joachim Fritz-Vannahme and others from the Bertelsmann Stiftung.  

Ukraine has to make a choice: either seriously participate in Euro-Atlantic integration and join the nations of democracy and free markets, or remain in the 'grey zone' of the European periphery by reviving its traditionally close relations with Russia, argues Marek Dabrowski in a Centre for Social and Economic Research (CASE) paper published ahead of the Ukrainian elections. 

Conflicts in Georgia and other parts of the South Caucasus region owe much to Russia's "peace-keeping" policies in the region, writes Estonian former prime minister Mart Laar in a July article for Europe's World.

In this paper for the Centre of European Policy Studies think-tank, Michael Emerson, Gergana Noutcheva and Nicu Popescu argue for increased differentiation in the policy packages offered to countries under the terms of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

This report, published by the Polish Batory Foundation, calls on the EU to support democratisation efforts in Belarus.