Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

EU to boost ties with its neighbours

  • The European Commission has devoted €12 billion to the EU's neighbours between 2007-2013 (Photo: EUobserver)

Ministers from the 27-nation EU and its 16 neighbours are gathering in Brussels for the first ever meeting designed to give a new impetus to the €12 billion-strong policy of mutual cooperation. Trade, mobility, energy and immigration will be high on the agenda.

"I believe it is time to bring together all partners to exchange ideas on the strengthening of this policy", EU neighbourhood policy commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement issued before the meeting.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

She added that Monday's (3 September) conference would "underline the EU's determination to develop individual and differentiated partnership that reflects the interest of each neighbour".

The European Neighbourhood Policy, tailored to create a ring of peaceful and economically advanced states around the EU's borders, covers 16 countries – Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine.

Each state is offered a privileged relationship, including the chance to integrate into the EU's 500-million-strong internal market on condition they commit to democracy and reforms in a wide range of fields.

Since the 2004 enlargement, the bloc's Neighbourhood Policy has become its main external priority. Its aim is to avoid the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged Union and its neighbours.

One of the big issues is immigration from these countries to the EU.

Speaking to Germany's Die Welt newspaper, Ms Ferrero-Waldner said the EU is planning to make it easer for migrants to get work in the EU for a set period and based on need in different member states.

"The aim of this strategy is to curb illegal immigration, boost legal migration and possibly also to counteract the lack of labour in certain economic sectors in the EU," said the commissioner.

Some €12 billion have been put aside for the ENP between 2007 and 2013, which is over 30 percent more than in the previous budget period.

Support among EU citizens

However, while high on Brussels's political agenda, it finds little echo among EU citizens.

A recent poll suggests that 54 percent of Europeans show little interest in what is happening outside the bloc's borders.

On the other hand, a clear majority express firm support for the political aspects of the policy, with 73 percent of people saying that the EU can help to promote democracy in these countries.

In addition, 89 percent of Europeans consider it important or very important to work together with neighbouring countries on tackling terrorism and organised crime.

Similarly, 86 percent support cooperation on environment and energy, 81 percent on education and 71 percent on immigration.

But 45 percent of EU citizens worry that promoting reforms in the neighbourhood could endanger the bloc's own peace and stability.

According to EU commissioner Ferrero-Waldner, the aim to strengthen ties with the EU's neighbours "is a win-win policy".

"I hope that more and more people will appreciate that this policy makes us all more secure and that the advantages the European Neighbourhood Policy brings are well worth the cost", Ms Ferrero-Waldner said in response to the poll.

EU neighbourhood policy divisions exposed

Ministers from within the EU and from its neighbouring countries gathered for the first time on Monday to discuss the bloc's neighbourhood policy, but the meeting highlighted the strong divisions about what such a policy should mean.

Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access

70 percent of northern Gaza is facing famine, new data shows. There is one shower per 5,500 people, and 888 people per toilet. 'How can you live in these conditions?" asked Natalie Boucly of UNRWA at the European Humanitarian Forum.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us