13.5 European Neighbourhood Policy

The European Neighbourhood Policy (EPN) complements the multilateral "Barcelona Process" which continues to be a key element of EU relations with Mediterranean countries. The "Barcelona Process" was developed after the Barcelona Conference of 1995 in successive annual meetings and is a set of goals designed to lead to a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area (EU-MEFTA) by 2010.

With many of the same general objectives as the Barcelona Process, the ENP offers additional bilateral incentives and opportunities, responding to individual countries' reform efforts. The ENP was developed in 2004, with the objective of avoiding the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and the EU's neighbours and instead strengthening the prosperity, stability and security of all concerned. The ENP applies to the EU's immediate neighbours by land or sea. The central element of the ENP is the bilateral ENP Action Plans agreed between the EU and each partner.

Before a country can begin negotiations to join the ENP it must have completed either an Associate Agreement or a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the EU. The ENP, therefore, builds upon existing agreements between the EU and the partner in question, which are:

Either Association Agreements in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership for the Mediterranean countries.
Or Partnership and Cooperation Agreements (PCAs) for the Caucasus and other ex-USSR states.

Countries which share a Mediterranean border with the EU also need to be participants of the Barcelona Process. The ENP does not apply to countries that are engaged in the enlargement process (which includes Turkey and the West Balkans). The next stage of the ENP is the creation of a "Country Report" on the partner country. Action Plans are then drawn up which provide a detailed map for reform and cooperation. These cover many areas including trade and market reform; justice, security and freedom; transport and energy. Both the EU and the partner country must approve the Action Plans before they are enacted.

Funds for, for example, development and infrastructural projects are available. From January 2007 these funds are distributed through the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (EPNI). EPNI replaced TACIS (for the eastern countries) and MEDA (for the Mediterranean countries).

The countries involved are:

The non-EU countries of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership:

Western Mediterranean: Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria (Association Agreement not yet enacted) and Libya (observer status only).
Eastern Mediterranean: Egypt, Israel, Palestinian Authority, Syria (Association Agreement not yet signed), Lebanon, and Jordan.

Ex-USSR countries:

Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Other ex-USSR: Moldova, Belarus (Association Agreement not yet signed) and Ukraine.

Russia

Russia is not part of the ENP but the EU has developed strategic links with Russia. The EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) came into force in 1997 for an initial duration of 10 years. At the St Petersburg Summit (2003) the EU and Russia agreed to reinforce their cooperation by creating four "common spaces" in the framework of the PCA. They are:

A common economic space - including energy.
A common space of freedom, security and justice.
A space of cooperation in the field of external security.
A space of research and education, including cultural aspects.

RL, February 2007