The impact of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union on governance and economic development in eastern Europe
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text adopted by
the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 27
May 2011 (see Doc. 12521,
report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, rapporteur:
Mr Rigoni). See also Recommendation
1971 (2011).
- Thesaurus
1. The Eastern Partnership of the
European Union, launched in May 2009, aims to “accelerate political association
and further economic integration” of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine with the 27 member states. The Parliamentary
Assembly warmly welcomes this initiative which sets the ambitious
and challenging goal of forging the necessary conditions for sustainable
economic growth, enhanced stability, improved governance and stronger
rule of law in the countries concerned, as well as greater socio-economic
cohesion across the entire continent.
2. The Assembly reiterates its belief that economic growth and
democratic development can and must go together, helping to empower
people to transform the societies they live in. It views the Eastern
Partnership as a living process with multiple stakeholders – including
the Council of Europe as a long-standing advocate for a “Europe
without dividing lines”, co-operation based on shared values and
standard setting focused on human dignity. The quest for economic
growth in the countries concerned by the Partnership must give due consideration
to essential prerequisites, which are stable democracy, the rule
of law and good governance.
3. The Assembly is concerned that, despite improvements in tackling
economic crime and corruption in some countries, a trust gap persists
between the ruling elites – political and economic – and the rest
of the society in Eastern Partnership target countries, not least
because of the widespread public discontent with “money politics”,
corruption and the shadow economy. Moreover, recurrent political
deadlocks, the continuing global economic crisis and a series of
unresolved regional conflicts hamper both the domestic reform momentum
and regional co-operation prospects. This points to the need for
continued capacity- and confidence-building steps – including through
parliamentary diplomacy and people-to-people contacts – in order
to fully tap the development potential in eastern Europe.
4. Five of the six Eastern Partnership countries are fully-fledged
members of the Council of Europe, by virtue of which they are constantly
being urged to fulfil their commitment to the fundamental principles
that underpin the actions of the Organisation. Synergy between the
European Union, the Council of Europe and other institutions in
monitoring and encouraging partner steps towards the Eastern Partnership
objectives is a stepping stone towards accelerated progress with
structural, governance and economic policy reforms in the participating
countries. In particular, the Assembly welcomes the launching of
a series of co‑operation projects under the joint Eastern Partnership
Facility of the Council of Europe and the European Union. The aim
is to help Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine
to move closer towards Council of Europe and European Union standards
in areas such as electoral standards and judicial reform, as well
as fighting cybercrime and corruption.
5. The Assembly appreciates that the Eastern Partnership’s bilateral
framework provides for the signing of individual association agreements
with the countries taking part, which in turn lay foundations for
the creation of a deep and comprehensive free trade area. These
agreements, together with the European commitments of financial
and technical assistance, offer powerful motivation to Eastern Partnership
countries to seek a high degree and speed of integration with the
European Union. Although the aspirations of the six Partnership countries
differ to a great extent, they all share the wish to achieve a freer
flow of persons, goods, services and capital with the European Union
member states. Tangible progress in this area will boost development prospects,
in particular as regards investment and employment levels.
6. The Assembly strongly supports the inter-state co-operation
aimed at building a more flexible visa regime for travel between
the European Union and the Eastern Partnership countries. It welcomes
the unilateral steps offering visa-free travel to several Eastern
Partnership countries, such as Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, for
visitors from an increasing number of countries, and urges other
Partnership countries to follow this path.
7. As the majority of European countries struggle with economic
difficulties, European Union financial support becomes even more
important than in times of steady economic growth. This reform-oriented
influence is further multiplied through the involvement of other
international organisations and institutional investors, in particular
the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Investment Bank
(EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD),
as in the case of Ukraine and Belarus. As long as the effects of the
crisis are felt, the scope for these institutions’ conditionality
in the Partnership countries will grow and should be used fully
to assist institutional capacity building and the reform process
in the Eastern Partnership countries.
8. The Eastern Partnership process offers a unique opportunity
for the involvement of various European institutions and countries
with a view to building a relationship based on genuine solidarity,
pan-European economic co-operation and human progress. The Assembly
is convinced that European Union member states should co-ordinate
more closely their national assistance programmes towards eastern
Europe and resort more often to the pooling of assistance so as
to compensate for any cuts in aid flows due to budget austerity.
9. Of the six Eastern Partnership countries, only Georgia and
Moldova belong to the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB).
While both Georgia and Moldova are the neediest members of the bank’s
target group of countries, Georgia has not so far benefited from
the CEB financing for development projects and Moldova has received
rather modest project support over the last four years. The Assembly
thus encourages stronger CEB involvement – directly and in co-operation
with the EBRD, the EIB, the World Bank and the European Commission
whenever possible – in the generation of projects that further socio-economic development
and Council of Europe values in these countries. It reiterates its
call on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine, expressed in
Recommendation 1937 (2010) on
the strategy, governance and functioning of the Council of Europe
Development Bank, to consider joining the CEB at the earliest opportunity.
10. All Eastern Partnership countries stand to obtain huge gains
in terms of competitiveness, employment and energy security from
measures tackling the existing inefficiencies in their energy use
and transport links. The European Union and the national authorities
of the Partnership countries could put in place a series of projects
and investment or tax incentives with a view to improving these
countries’ energy performance and transport interconnections as
a matter of priority.
11. International studies on the gender gap reveal the need for
sustained progress in eliminating gender biases and pay gaps and
improving access of women entrepreneurs to business support programmes
in the Eastern Partnership countries. The Assembly therefore encourages
the sustained Council of Europe efforts for gender mainstreaming
action in these countries. It also asks the EBRD to continue its
Business Advisory Services under the Women in Business programme
and to expand the programme further in the less developed regions
of the countries concerned.
12. The projected dialogue between the European Union and the
Eastern Partnership countries at different levels of governance,
along with the idea of convening the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly
and a Civil Society Forum, signals the European Union’s strong emphasis
on interaction and communication between different stakeholders.
It is essential to ensure that the Eastern Partners’ opposition
forces and independent NGOs have a say in this dialogue and that
exchanges are fostered among the Eastern Partnership countries themselves.
The Assembly is convinced that the format of the Euronest Assembly
should be reviewed with a view to rendering the composition and
the size of delegations more balanced and streamlining the contents and
methods of its future work.
13. The Assembly believes that it is necessary to maintain, improve
and strengthen contacts at all levels between the European Union
and Council of Europe with Eastern Partnership countries in the
field of inter-parliamentary co-operation. To this end, using the
established mechanisms of the Parliamentary Assembly, involving
the Assembly (and through it some third parties to the Partnership)
in the work of the Euronest and possibly setting up a partnership
“Parliamentary Troika” (of the European Parliament, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) to underpin
its future essence could be an important course of action, especially
in order to co-ordinate positions in respect of Belarus.
14. In the light of its co-operation agreement with the European
Parliament, the Assembly resolves to seek a broadening of the mandate
of the European Parliament/Parliamentary Assembly working group
with a view to better co-ordination between the two assemblies of
parliamentary assistance programmes in favour of the Eastern Partnership
countries. It also decides to continue following the Eastern Partnership
process from the political and economic governance angles.
15. The Assembly furthermore invites the competent authorities
of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, where
applicable, to:
15.1 establish
a clear separation between the economic and political spheres in
decision making so as to avoid conflicts of interest, not least
in respect of the financing of political parties;
15.2 take measures aimed at ensuring fair competition between
domestic and foreign businesses and reducing the influence of monopolies/oligopolies;
15.3 continue streamlining the national public services and
tax administration systems with a view to achieving higher efficiency,
transparency and effectiveness, as well as improving the overall
business climate;
15.4 ensure better enforcement of laws and functioning of accountability
mechanisms in order to reduce the scope of corruption, money laundering,
human trafficking and the shadow economy;
15.5 set up, wherever relevant, twinning programmes at different
levels of governance with a view to fostering exchanges of know-how
and best practice with other countries of the Eastern Partnership
and in the neighbourhood;
15.6 use the expertise of the Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities of the Council of Europe to make improvements in their
national schemes for fostering more balanced regional development;
15.7 ensure greater public awareness of the Eastern Partnership
process and progress made in the national context.
