Brussels, 13 May - “Today, we had the honour,
in our capacity as Co-Presidents of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, to
address the Foreign Affairs Ministerial Meeting that marked the 10th
anniversary of the Eastern Partnership.
Launched in May 2009 as a common endeavour of the EU Member States, the EU
Institutions and the Eastern Neighbours, the Eastern Partnership has been
founded on our common values and mutual interest, in a spirit of shared
ownership and responsibility, to bring tangible benefits to our citizens across
the continent. We now boast a decade of joint achievements, and look forward to
the further deepening and strengthening of these relations.
Our future efforts should focus on achieving the 20 deliverables for 2020 in
the areas of economy, governance, connectivity and society. Needless to say,
the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly will continue to bring added value by
providing a sustained framework for inter-parliamentary co-operation at
multilateral level, giving an indispensable democratic legitimacy to the
Eastern Partnership, and complementing the valuable contacts that already
exist, at bilateral level, between the European Parliament and the Eastern
Partners’ national Parliaments. We are confident that, after the European
elections, the European Parliament will remain highly engaged in the support to
the Eastern Partners’ democratic process and reform efforts and in the monitoring
and evaluation of the progress made as well as the EU assistance to them.
While fully acknowledging the importance of the Eastern Partnership for the
stability and prosperity of our continent as a whole, we also wish to reiterate
our specific support for the European aspirations of the three Associated
Eastern Partners - Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Any European State may apply
to become a full member of the EU, provided that it upholds the Copenhagen
criteria. We believe that the Association Agreements signed with these
countries do not constitute the ultimate goal of their relation with the EU but
that their implementation is the way to the EU, and we have to underline in
this regard the importance of the “Eastern Partnership Plus” (EaP+) model advocated
by the European Parliament.
Also we would like to stress that the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership
Agreement with Armenia announces the deepening of EU-Armenian relations.
Besides, the launching of negotiations on a new comprehensive agreement with
Azerbaijan demonstrates that the Eastern Partnership is effective whilst
maintaining the necessary emphasis on our core values.
Last but not least, we are convinced that the continuation of the “critical
engagement” policy vis-à-vis Belarus is vital for the inclusiveness of the
Eastern Partnership and look forward to seeing the conditions emerge to welcome
Belarus to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.”
Rebecca Harms is
available for interviews and comments. For further information please
contact Rebecca Harms directly at +49 171 532 57 21.
