Brussels, 28/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summit to be held in Warsaw on 29 and 30 September, the European Commission published a communication on Tuesday 27 September aimed at strengthening its cooperation with Eastern Partnership countries in the field of justice and home affairs (JHA) and at reaffirming the guiding principles for future EU agreements with third countries, in this case Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus.
The communication, which covers visa policy, the management of migration and borders and the fight against organised crime, underlines EU action on all these fronts and suggests means of improvements, such as the strengthening of statistical data on migration from these countries, the possible holding of JHA ministerial meetings between the EU and its partners, or cooperation between EU agencies such as Frontex and Europol/Eurojust and relevant entities in Partnership countries. The Commission also suggests in its communication that ways allowing legal immigration and employment should be opened up for migrants from these third countries.
The communication also sets out the main principles that must underpin talks between the two parties. These are: - differentiation: advancement of cooperation depends on the individual progress made by the partner country in its JHA reform agenda; - conditionality: further enhancement of cooperation with eastern partners should be gradual and conditional on progress made and successful cooperation in agreed areas; - policy coherence: JHA cooperation with eastern partners will be considered in the context of the overall EU external policy and other relevant policies; - regional cooperation between eastern partners is crucial for responding to cross border challenges in the JHA area and should be further encouraged; - and the promotion of greater involvement of civil society in creating and following the JHA cooperation agenda, especially with regard to people-to-people contacts.
At present, three Eastern Partnership countries (Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia) have already signed an agreement with the EU for the return of migrants, the Commission states in its communication, in parallel to agreements aimed at visa facilitation. The Commission has also called on the Council to give it a mandate to negotiate such agreements with Armenia and Azerbaijan. (SP/transl.jl)