Chiinu ,2014

State University of Moldova

Faculty of International Affairs , Public and Political Administration



European Neighbourhood Policy





Author : Samson Roxana 202RI





Chiinu ,2014
Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. What is the European Neighbourhood Policy ?
3. The economical and social background at the starting point of the ENP
4. ENP Funding Instruments
5. Interregional Policy
6. Conclusion



















Chiinu ,2014
What is the European Neighbourhood Policy ?
The European Neighborhood Policy, also known as the ENP has the goal of offering a deeper
political and economic bond between the EU and its neighbours. The ENP started as a EU policy in
2003, being developed in the context of the prospective enlargement of the EU to include eight states
in Central and Eastern Europe and two states in the Mediterranean. After 2004 , when the
enlargement to 25 states was accomplished and EU encompassed the majority of European nation
states, this policy had to set another plan of action with more directions.
The ENP is set to fulfill one of the main EU principles, which is to build security in their
neighbourhood. It was developed as a consequence to the post-enlargement situations, which meant
that the boundaries between states were redrawn, and a new order was set among the so called
insiders and outsiders. One of the ENP goals is to draw a wider definition to the neighbourhood that
would embrace the Western Newly Independent States, the Caucasus and Southern and Eastern
Mediterranean states.
After the European council approved of the direction set in this proposal of the European
Commission, the policy was elaborated upon in a further communication with detailed
recommendations for concrete steps needed to implement such a policy. It was decided that the new
policy would be called the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Further, it was decided that this
policy would build on existing policies, not replace them.Because the EU uses longer term plans for
strategic development of its policies, it was decided to allow for convergence between existing
policies until the end of the multiannual framework in 2006. In the new multiannual framework from
2007-2013 the ENP would incorporate all previous policies, and a new and unified funding
instrument would be developed to guarantee a coherent institutional structure to support the ENP
(Com 393 final, 2003). The ENP strives to be an broad and integrated policy framework, and it
encompasses almost all themes in which countries can collaborate with the EU. Some other discrete
policy instruments deal with select themes, like the Instrument for Nuclear Cooperation and Safety.
The economical and social background at the starting point of the ENP
After the 2004 EU enlargement, the borders of the regional organization changed, suddenly a lot of
poorer, less socialy-developed country,less democratic surrounded EU. This is why there was a
urgent need to create a common policy, that could unify all the members foreign policy directions in
order to create a ring of countries around the EU, that would coexist in peace and that would have
cooperative relations that would eventually bring only advantages to both parts.
In 2003 was created the communication titled: The wider Neighbourhood, A New framework for
relations with pur Eastern and Southern Neighbours, which was written by the Eu Commision. The
goals that were set were the following: promotion of a close political cooperation, close economic
integration and access to the unified market, as well as: prevent illegal migration, accomplish an
improved human rights record and expand the efforts toward democracy.

There were as well a set of Policy mechanism that preceded the ENP:
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Name Function
INTERREG

TACIS


MEDA


PHARE


CARDS
To increase cross-border cooperation within the EU in order to enhance internal
cohesion and dissipate borders.
To support commonwealth of independent states. Regional, cross-border, interstate
elements, focused on technical assistance to enable political reform and
transitioning to market economy.
To support cooperation between Mediteranean countries and EU.
Decisions made throught the Barcelona Process. Mostly regional, goal to support
creating free-trade area by promoting reforms and investing.
To support East European countries in the EU accession process,mostly by
providing support and funding for the adopting of EU Acquis, phased out after 5
th

enlargement in 2004-2007
To Support Balkan countries in economic reform, reconstruction

The ENP was initially supposed to incorporate Israel, Jordan, Moldova, Morocco, Palestinian
Authority, Tunisia and Ukraine. Russia was also asked to participate in the ENP, but in subsequent
negotiations it was decided that a separate policy instrument would be developed to guide Russian-
European foreign policy.
The two main principles are:
- To work with the partners to reduce poverty and create an area of shared prosperity and
values based on deeper economic integration, intensefied political and cultural relations,
enhanced cross-border cooperation and shared responsibility for conflict prevention between
the EU and its neighbours.
- To anchors the EUs offer of concrete benefits and preferential relations within a
differentiated framework which responds to progress made by the partner countries in
political and economic reform.
The EU asks the ENP countries to reform their political system in order to align with the european
democratic and humanitarian standards.
The concieved Action plans in the Commission Strategy focus on:
1. Commitment to Shared Values which stands for the ensurance that the partners comply with
the generally accepted international and regional conventions on democracy, human
rights,the rule of law and cooperation.
2. A more effective political dialogue which facilitates EU Common Foreign and Security
Policy and European Security and Defence Policy objectives.
3. Economic and social development policy
4. Trade and International Market which means the cooperation between internal and EU
market.
5. Justice and Home Affairs
6. Connecting the neighborhood
7. People-to-people, programmes and agencies
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The proof of the commitment of EU when it comes to political cooperation is confirmed through the
CFSP which stands for Common Foreign and Security Policy which deals with trade, aid and
security. ENP countries can also be asked to join European Security Strategy and the European
Defense and Security Policy.
ENP Funding I nstruments
There are three types of mechanisms: technical and financial support, promise of enhanced relations,
and investment facilities, these are the core drivers or reform for the ENP. The ENPI funds all
localized programmes; it funds inter-regional programmes, regional programmes, bilateral
programmes, and the EU-Russia strategic partnership. The cross-border programme is co-funded by
the structural funds, because cross-border programmes also involve areas within the EU. Usually the
way a project is funded depends on its necessity in the process of accomplishing the security and
democratic plans. Some of the instruments which have their own funding instruments are the
European Instrument in Democracy and Human Rights and the Instrument for Nuclear Safety and
Cooperation.
I nterregional Policy
When the ENP was launched in 2004 it was decided that other regional policies would have two
years to work on convergence and harmonization before they would be subsumed under the new
ENP structure. The previous policies did not have an explicit interregional component, so in the first
two years the ENP did not have a programme that focused on interregional policies.
However, in 2005 and 2006 the European Commission did carry out evaluations of the complete
ENP programme on an interregional level. The 2006 evaluation of the ENP reaffirmed that most
reforms that were carried out due to the ENP were in the area of trade and economic reforms, but
progress on democratic and human rights reforms was slow and haphazard. The evaluation blamed
the particular structure of the ENP for the slow uptake of reforms. The ENP does support short-term
reforms with funding and technical support, but in the end the strongest motivation for reform is the
potential enhanced access to the internal market.
Finally the ENP launched InterRegional Programme (IRP) in 2007. This programme would fund all
projects that have an interregional character. Initial studies were done for the viability of DCFTAs
in Georgia, Armenia,and Ukraine, enhanced visa agreements were implemented with Ukraine and
Moldova, and discussions for further trade liberalisations were executed with Egypt, Israel, Morocco
and Tunisia. A conflict between Russia and Georgia suggested that ENPs capacity of resolving
existing territorial disputes is still limited. However, the EU did support the cease-fire process and
immediately continued further reform negotiations with Georgia. Overall, as in previous years,most
progress was made in trade and economic reform, and politically little to no reform was visible
If to make a scoop in the Action Plan of the ENP for Moldova,here is a series of goals mentioned in
it:
sustained efforts towards a viable solution to the Transnistria conflict
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further strengthening the stability and effectiveness of institutions guaranteeing democracy
and the rule of law; ensuring the democratic conduct of parliamentary elections (February
2005) in Moldova in accordance with European standards;
ensuring respect for the freedom of the media and the freedom of expression;
further reinforcing administrative and judicial capacity;
resuming cooperation with IFIs; implementing actions aimed at poverty reduction, to
strengthen private sector led growth and for fiscal sustainability;
improving the investment climate through appropriate structural reforms aimed at ensuring
non-discriminatory, transparent and predictable business conditions and by the fight against
corruption;
progress towards a system of efficient, comprehensive state border management on all sectors
of the Moldovan border including the Transnistrian sector;
working towards the EU granting AutonomousTrade Preferences, by ensuring effective
control of the origin of goods from Moldova;
stepping up the fight against organised crime, including trafficking in human beings;
ensuring the efficient management of migratory flows, including initiating the process
towards conclusion of a readmission agreement between the European Community and
Moldova.
Conclusion
In conclusion it is necessary to mention that the ENP is a really important policy which assures the
stability and unity in the regions where it applied, especially in the regions that have frozen or active
conflicts. It must be mentioned that the recent events in Ukraine have shown that the instruments and
mechanism that work and are the consisting parts of the ENP have not been thoroughly created to
deal with this crisis situations. This only demonstrates that it has a lot of positive influence when the
conditions are implemented with the approval of the domestic forces of the ENP countries.The fact
that the EU has made a bigger budget for funding the ENP demonstrates that it is concerned and has
yet to decide in which region East or South it should concentrate its forces first.
The ENP covers a large range of aspects as because of the different social and cultural aspects in the
South and East,two regions in which it activates a lot.
The ENP is important because it gives a chance to the countries that surround the EU to correspond
to its standards, have a nice spectrum of economical relations that set a higher plank for the life level
of the people in this countries. The ENP assures the order in Europe by not isolating the members of
the union but interconnecting them with the non-members which creates a relatabilty for both sides
and that creates a general atmosphere of peace, friendship and cooperation.
In the end it must be mentioned that the ENP has had a pozitive influence on our countrys fate in the
international affairs. It is really nice that before becoming a member, the country gets the chance to
reform its systems and concordate them to an european standard.


Chiinu ,2014
Bibliography
1. The European Neighbourhood Policy in Perspective: Context,
Implementation and Impact, Richard G., Professor
Whitman,2010
2. Overview of the European Neighbourhood, Edzard
Wesselnik, Ron Boschma,January 2012
3. http://eeas.europa.eu/enp/index_en.htm