The European Parliament on November 15 adopted a resolution with recommendations on the next Eastern Partnership (EaP) Summit proposed by the Foreign Affairs Committee. In his speech in Parliament, the Committee’s deputy chairman Andi Cristea said that three years after the signing of Association Agreements with Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, new dynamism is needed in the EU’s approach to the Eastern Partnership, IPN reports.
“It’s time to differentiate between the options of the six Eastern Partnership countries and to act. We can no longer ignore the abyss and divergences as regards the different ambitions and aspirations of the states from the Eastern neighborhood. The three associate states, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, make progress on the path of European reforms, made clear strategic choices in favor of the EU and have political will to go further. They are part of Europe. Brussels needs an ambitious view on the states from the East and should do more for those who decided to come closer to our values and fulfill the commitments assumed by the Association Agreement with the EU,” stated the MEP.
According to a press release placed on the EP’s website, the MEPs welcomed the significant progress made since the last EaP Summit, held in Riga in 2015. They pointed out that some Eastern partners have made major reforms and that Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova now benefit from free trade and visa-free regimes with the EU.
For the next Summit, to be held in Brussels on November 24, MEPs recommend setting up a trust fund for Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, which could focus on private and public investments in social and economic infrastructure, creating an “EaP+” model for associated countries that have made substantial progress on EU-related reforms to offer them the possibility of joining the customs union, energy union, digital union or even the Schengen area and supporting economic reforms aimed at phasing out monopolies, limiting the role of oligarchs, preventing money laundering and tax evasion.
To stimulate the progress made by these countries, the resolution will be presented to the Council of the EU, the European Commission and the European External Action Service for being examined at the upcoming EaP summit.
