On Friday 12 June, the Bureau of the Euronest Assembly, which is made up of Members of the European Parliament and six Eastern Partnership (EaP) partner countries, adopted its recommendations to the Heads of State and Government ahead of the virtual Partnership summit on Thursday 18 June.
The report states that “we need a forward-looking EU enhanced cooperation, security and economic resilience strategy with our Eastern Partners willing to pursue the EU integration efforts”.
The Bureau is of the view that the summit must set a clear long-term vision and strategy for EU action for enhanced cooperation beyond 2020. The summit must therefore put forward “innovative decisions” on how to enhance political dialogue and cooperation, including through the use of new targets for the period 2020-2030.
The Bureau also recommends gradual movement towards access to the four EU freedoms, the internal market and then the European Economic Area. It states that this “should become the next overarching benchmark of the Eastern Partnership, and generate a new momentum for further democratic and market reforms in the Eastern Neighbourhood”. It also underlines the importance of enhancing intra-regional cooperation between partner countries.
Euronest also calls on the Heads of State and Government to investigate the possibility of creating an enhanced cooperation strategy for the three associated countries - Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine - the Trio Plus strategy, which would be complementary to the Eastern Neighbourhood instruments, and would be open to all Eastern Neighbourhood countries willing to further progress towards closer cooperation with the EU, through a reform and investment support programme. Euronest also believes that future EU membership should not be ruled out for those partners ready to join the EU, in line with Article 49.
The Commission is invited to propose a “detailed and tailor-made” economic and investment plan for the Eastern partners, particularly the Trio Plus, in the autumn of 2020, along the same lines as the model it is expected to announce for the Western Balkans region in the autumn.
The European Parliament needs a common long-term vision
The European Parliament will vote on the Partnership summit on Thursday and Friday in plenary session, based on the report written by Petras Austrevicius (Renew Europe, Lithuania). The report is expected to call for “a clear strategy and a common long-term vision” for developing the Partnership and for “continued momentum for effective cooperation, intensive dialogue and close partnership within the Eastern Partnership”.
As with Euronest’s report, the European Parliament report proposes enhancing the dialogue with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
To read the European Parliament resolution that will be voted on this week, go to: https://bit.ly/3fqnMQN. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)