On Monday 15 October, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn said the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) were progressing well in implementation of the 20 deliverables for 2020 that were agreed at the summit of 24 November 2017.
"We are on a good track concerning the 20 deliverables. We have started to implement (them)", he said at the end of a ministerial meeting bringing together the foreign ministers of the 28 EU member states and their counterparts from the six Partnership countries in Luxembourg. "What we are trying to achieve is highly political, as it is about connecting and re-connecting people of (the) Eastern Neighbourhood closer to the European Union", he said.
Over the last 12 months, cooperation between the EU and the six countries has enabled the launch of the Eastern Partnership European School (see EUROPE 12088), the doubling of activities on mobility, the strengthening of support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and an increase in trade between Partnership countries and the EU, and the finalisation of an indicative action plan on investment in TEN-T, which provides for 5,500 kilometres of road and rail projects by 2020.
According to a press release from the European External Action Service, Hahn said the EU and Partners should be "proud" of the achievements made as part of the 20 deliverables for 2020.
Hahn is already looking further. "Looking ahead, we will continue to work together for concrete results, in particular in the areas of judicial reform and ensuring an enabling environment for civil society independent media", he said in a press release.
In 2019, the Eastern Partnership will celebrate its 10th anniversary, "a good opportunity to think already about the next generation of deliverables for the next decade", Hahn said. "Many of the current deliverables will need to be carried on", he told press.
When asked about the next Eastern Partnership summit, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Hahn remained vague.
"I have the impression that next year, we will have many ways to not only celebrate but also relaunch the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership. It will be one year of work, of not only taking stock but also looking forward", Mogherini said, while Hahn stated that the next summit would "most likely (be) after the 10th year anniversary (...) It could be in 2020, we are still discussing, but there will be a summit", he added, while saying that the 10th anniversary (of the Eastern Partnership) would take place in Brussels. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)