Context

Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a special dimension of the European Union’s Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) towards 6 partner countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. This initiative was launched in May 2009 with Poland and Sweden as the originators of the idea. The EaP was strongly inspired by previous enlargements of the European Union (EU): in 2004 and 2007 which approached the EU’s borders to Eastern Europe and Southern Caucasus and also brought closer these regions to the political agenda of the European Union (issues of security, democracy, stability and prosperity).

Aim

The EaP seeks to promote reforms in partner countries and reply to their wish of closer cooperation with the EU, as well as to facilitate trade and increase mobility between the EU and the partner states. This Partnership has a strategic importance as it is a way to deepen and strengthen relations between the EU and the partner countries, to speed up their political association, economic integration and approximation towards the EU and to support their modernization efforts (promotion of democracy and good governance, strengthening energy security,sector reform and environment protection promotion, encouraging people to people contacts, supporting economic and social development and offering additional funding for projects to reduce socio-economic imbalances and increase stability).

(Use Pop Out button to Download/Open)