Newsletter – n°31 – March 2015

Initiative worth following

On March 4, the European Union adopted a joint-consultation paper by the High Representative Federica Mogherini and the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, launching a four-month consultation on the future of its relations with neighbouring countries.

The consultation will run from March 4 until June 30, and seeks to target public authorities, civil society, think tanks, social partners, and business, as well as academic communities and even interested members of the public. This consultation on the future of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which was adopted in 2003 and last reviewed in 2011, is applicable to all partners in the eastern and southern borders of the UE, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia.

The consultation focuses on how the ENP could potentially become a greater vehicle both for promoting the EU and the neighbouring regions’ interests as well as how it could become a more effective partnership from a political, economic and social aspect. To this end, it will also explore what changes may need to be made to maximise the effects and potential of the ENP.

Read the joint-consultation paper

The consultation process seeks to include both as many EU stakeholders as well as partners in neighbouring countries and will lead to the adoption of an European Commission Communication, due to be adopted in autumn 2015 and which will set out proposals for the future direction of the European Neighbourhood Policy.

Access the consultation webpage