Brussels, 13/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - In a resolution prepared by Hungarian Tamas Meszerics (Greens/EFA) adopted at the European Parliament's plenary in Strasbourg on Wednesday 13 April, the EP regrets the limited progress in the strategy adopted by the EU in 2007 to boost ties with countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan).
Stating the “strong” strategic, political and economic interest of the EU in strengthening its bilateral and multilateral relations with all the Central Asian countries, on the basis of common shared values as stated in the existing Partnership and Cooperation Agreements between the EU and each of these countries, the EP regrets that the strategic initiative taken in 2007 “has demonstrated only limited viability and success”.
The EP says that economic ties have not progressed to a significant extent and the promotion of regional cooperation and integration in Central Asia based on the transfer of skills and standards from the EU has stalled. “The EU has to date not been able to make any relevant contribution on the basis of its own values and societal models and concepts towards resolving the severe socio-economic and environmental issues facing Central Asian societies or towards their modernisation”.
The EP says that “considerable progress in the areas referred to in the present report is yet to be achieved”, namely democratisation, human rights and the rule of law; women's rights and sexual equality; education, youth and interpersonal exchanges; economic integration, trade and sustainable development; energy, the environment, water and transport; and regional cooperation, security and frontier management.
The EP says it has good hope that the EU and its Central Asian partners will seriously redouble their efforts to achieve the aims and objectives set out in the strategy for Central Asia and the EPAs signed between the EU and each country in the region.
Agreeing with the Council (see EUROPE 11341) that the 2007 strategy and its priorities are still pertinent, the EP calls for the priorities and objectives to be considered more in terms of the interests, needs and general situation of Central Asian countries in the light of their differences, defined more precisely by means of individualised action plans adapted to each country in question, along with criteria and indicators.
The EP says it is happy with the rather ambitious nature of the review of the strategy by the Council and shares its decision to designate Central Asia as an area of strategic importance, adding that it is therefore important to “strengthen effective cooperation regarding political, diplomatic and trade relations and to support a genuine democratic transition; in this context, welcomes the 56 % increase in and more specific focusing of EU development assistance to the region for the period 2014-2020”.
The EP also shares the Council's view that a “differentiated, conditional and incentive-based approach should be applied in order to achieve better results both bilaterally and regionally”, and believes that regional programmes, such as those for border management, for fighting drugs and trafficking, and for transport and energy, should be tailored so as to target interested parties, including countries of the wider region such as Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia or Azerbaijan. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)