The Eastern Partnership Summit, in Brussels on Friday 24 November, is once again unlikely to make mention in its final declaration of the desire of several of the partner states to become members of the EU.
The final declaration of this, the fifth Eastern Partnership Summit, which will bring together the member states and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, is expected once more to acknowledge the “European aspirations” of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova without giving them a clear prospect of ultimate accession to the EU. “One of the major debates, as always, is the final declaration. Some of our partners would like to see a very clear prospect (of accession) while some member states do not see things in the same way, at least not immediately”, European Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn said at the “Global Trends to 2030” conference on Wednesday 22 November.
“In Riga (at the previous summit in 2015: Ed.), we recognised the European aspirations and welcomed their European choice, and that remains our position. There is no consensus in the EU for giving the states of the Eastern Partnership … membership prospects”, said a high-ranking European official. The Brussels declaration, he said, “will say no more, no less” than the Riga declaration. “Recognising these countries’ aspirations makes it possible for them to come closer to the EU”, he added but, according to a European source, the Ukraine is not happy with the form of words and has yet to approve the final declaration.
Summit for taking stock of progress. The summit will provide the opportunity take stock of progress since the 2015 Riga summit. There will be discussion of the ways to further strengthen cooperation in the four priority areas agreed in Riga: a stronger economy, stronger governance, stronger connectivity and a stronger for society. Under these four priority areas, the EU and its partners have identified 20 concrete deliverables to be achieved by 2020. These initiatives include loans for small and medium-sized enterprises, harmonisation of digital markets, increased support for civil society, extension of transport networks, improving energy efficiency and action for youth and education. One of the initiatives seeks to make progress in dialogues on visa liberalisation and mobility partnerships with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus, the citizens of the three other partner countries already being able to enter EU without the need for a visa.
According to the Council, the summit will be an opportunity to confirm the commitment to strengthen economic development and improve market opportunities and access to finance in the partner countries, including for small and medium-sized companies. The leaders are also expected to call for increased efforts to strengthen institutions, increase the pace of judicial and administrative reform to improve services to make them more efficient and to increase transparency and responsibility, the Council adds. It says that the EU and its partners will also express their commitment to a stronger society through contacts between people.
The EU and the six Eastern Partnership countries will also discuss strategic communication, with misinformation from Russia concerning the EU and several partner countries. For 2018, the EU has decided to increase the strategic communication budget, in particular for the three communication teams (Stratcom) for the countries of the Eastern Partnership and for the South and the Balkans. The budget will be €800,000.
The summit may also provide the opportunity to initial agreements with Armenia and Azerbaijan on a common aviation area.
While the above-mentioned high-ranking European official said that the summit was “not a conflict resolution instrument”, the final declaration is likely to make reference to the conflicts affecting the region. However, according to a European source, the form of words on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh satisfies neither country. Ukraine has seen the annexation of Crimea and conflict in the east of the country continues, Moldova is in conflict with the separatist region of Transnistria, and Georgia with Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Signing of new partnership agreement with Armenia. On the sidelines of the summit, the EU and the Armenia could sign their new closer comprehensive partnership agreement. Negotiations, which were launched in December 2015 (see EUROPE 11447), were concluded in March 2017 (see EUROPE 11735). Armenia had decided in autumn 2013 not to sign its association agreement with the EU and rather to join the Eurasian economic union with Russia (see EUROPE 10914), before changing its mind and committing itself at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius in November 2013 (see EUROPE 10974) to strengthening cooperation with the EU.
After summits in Prague, Warsaw, Vilnius and Riga, this is the first to be held in a western capital. The high-ranking European official said that holding the summit in Brussels, “the city where the institutions are located”, was a clear statement of the “commitment towards the Eastern Partnership shared by all of the EU”.
From the EU, in addition to the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Commissioners for Neighbourhood Policy and Trade, all member states are expected to be represented. According to the high-ranking official, 20 EU heads of state and/or government have confirmed that they will attend. Among the partners, the Presidents of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, will attend the summit, as will the Prime Ministers of Moldova, Pavel Filip, and Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili. Following the lifting of European sanctions against him in February 2016 (see EUROPE 11590), Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was invited for the very first time to attend the summit. However, it is Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei who will once again represent that country. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)