Brussels, 15/01/2013 (Agence Europe) -European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle announced on Monday 14 January that the new package on the European neighbourhood policy (ENP) would be adopted on 20 March. Speaking to the heads of delegation of the neighbourhood countries, he said that the Commission intended to bring forward the package earlier this year in comparison with last year, “so that the assessments of the progress reports (Ed: of the neighbouring countries) can be better taken into account for the annual programming of financial assistance to partners, according to the principle of more for more”. Füle added that the assessment should be based on an open consultation with a large number of stakeholders, including civil society. The progress reports should be ever clearer on what the EU considers as key for democratic transition in each country, he added.
Füle said that the communication will call for a comprehensive approach to ENP, “including common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and common security and defence policy (CSDP) tools” and will stress the need for differentiation between the partners. The communication will underline that the “progress on the 2012 key recommendations for each partner was limited and concerned mainly the organisation of free and fair elections. More work will be needed in 2013 to implement all the key recommendations”, he said.
The European neighbourhood package will include a communication, 12 progress reports (country by country), two regional reports (one on the eastern neighbourhood and the other on the southern neighbourhood), and a report with quantitative indicators of progress towards reform. (CG/transl.fl)