France applauds the publication of the ‘Report On Violations Of International Humanitarian And Human Rights Law, War Crimes And Crimes Against Humanity Committed In Ukraine Since 24 February 2022,’ which was prepared by the independent experts, Professors Wolfgang Benedek, Veronika Bílková and (…)
The European Union has a strategic interest to support the stability, security and prosperity of neighbouring States. It is with this in mind that it developed a specific policy called the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).
It has two pillars :
1. In the East, the Eastern Partnership, which was created in 2009 and includes six States of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus : Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan ;
2. In the South, ten States all belonging to the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), created in 2008 (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia).
The European Neighbourhood Policy is a bilateral policy between the Union and each partner country, which includes regional cooperation initiatives :
• The Eastern Partnership which concerns Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus ;
• The Union for the Mediterranean which aims to stabilize the Mediterranean region by enhancing relations between countries in the region.
Relations with most partner countries are governed by cooperation agreements. Under the framework defined by Member States, the European Union holds regular dialogue with its neighbouring States in all areas, including policy, the economy, trade, security, migration, cooperation, human rights, health, agriculture and humanitarian assistance. The European Union also provides partner countries with significant support in various sectors for cooperation. For example, Tunisia, a special partner of the European Union in the Maghreb, receives €300 million a year.
France attaches great importance to the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which aims to enhance the prosperity and stability of the European Union’s neighbours. France is particularly committed to this unique policy, which covers both Southern and Eastern partners of the European Union. It supports dealing with this policy in a unique framework covering the Eastern and Southern neighbourhoods, with two Southern and Eastern components.
The European Union is involved in resolving conflicts in Libya and the Middle East. Its action can include :
With Eastern European neighbouring countries (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova) and the three Caucasus countries (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan), cooperation is growing in the Eastern Partnership, an initiative launched in 2009 to frame the Eastern component of European Union Neighbourhood Policy.
The Eastern Partnership Ministerial Meeting of 13 May 2019 celebrated the tenth anniversary of this policy. This ministerial meeting highlighted accomplishments, reiterated States’ commitment to pursuing their cooperation with partner countries under the Eastern Partnership and launched new cooperation projects, especially regarding young people.
The Eastern Partnership Summit on 18 June 2020, which brought together via videoconference the Heads of State and Government of the 27 Member States and the six Eastern partners, strongly reaffirmed the European Union’s commitment to the Eastern neighbourhood policy.
The participants expressed their shared determination to continue to develop concrete cooperation in priority areas including the climate, connectivity and civil society. On this occasion, the European Union committed to continue to support partners in the post-COVID-19 context. The European Union has already dedicated considerable funds to supporting its neighbours in the East to help tackle the public health crisis of spring 2020 (the Team Europe initiative which earmarks €963 million for the Eastern Neighbourhood).
Partner countries receive financial and technical support from the European Union in order to build their capabilities in several areas and especially good governance, the rule of law, media and jobs. For the 2014-2020 period, support for the Eastern neighbourhood amounted to somewhere between €741 million and €906 million.
Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements were signed with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia and visas were liberalized. A Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement was signed with Armenia in 2017. A cooperation agreement is being negotiated with Azerbaijan.
France is also fully invested in Eastern Europe, especially when it comes to conflict resolution. Since 2014, it has taken part with Germany, Ukraine and Russia in Normandy Format negotiations to resolve the crisis in Eastern Ukraine. In the Caucasus, France is very committed to resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as the co-chair of the Minsk Group.
Since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in spring 2014, the European Union has imposed several sanction regimes on Russia. As there are no signs of progress in implementing the Minsk agreements on which their possible easing depends, European sector-based sanctions on Russia have been renewed every six months since July 2016.
The European Union’s relationship with Russia has five main thrusts :
A new EU strategy for Central Asia was adopted in 2019 and presented to the Central-Asian partners at the 15th EU-Central Asia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which was held on 7 July 2019 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The EU’s engagement in Central Asia will be centred on two major themes : “partnering for resilience and prosperity” and “investing in regional cooperation in Central Asia”, also with a strong focus on regional cooperation, sustainable connectivity, youth and education.
Since 1957, the European Communities followed by the European Union have undergone six waves of enlargement :
At the Helsinki European Council on December 1999, Turkey was officially recognized as a candidate country : negotiations were formally opened in October 2005. In its most recent conclusions on enlargement of 18 June 2019, the Council noted, however, that “Turkey continues to move further away from the European Union” and that “accession negotiations have therefore effectively come to a standstill and no further chapters can be considered for opening or closing”.
Since the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003, the European Union has recognized the possible integration of the six Western Balkans countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia).
Accession procedures are provided for in Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, which stipulates that : “Any European State which respects the values referred to in Article 2 and is committed to promoting them may apply to become a member of the Union. […] The conditions of admission and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the Union is founded, which such admission entails, shall be the subject of an agreement between the Member States and the applicant State. This agreement shall be submitted for ratification by all the contracting States in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.”
According to the enlargement process, candidate countries must meet specific criteria, known as the “Copenhagen criteria” :
• A political criterion : have stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities ;
• An economic criterion : have a functioning market economy and the ability to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union ;
• An institutional criterion : have the ability to take on and implement the EU acquis.
France defends the demanding vision of the enlargement process, based on the effective and sustainable implementation of reforms by candidate States to take on the EU acquis and consolidate the rule of law. It is also important for the European Union to be developed and its functioning improved before starting or completing any process for further enlargement. Moreover, the French Constitution provides that the ratification of the accession treaty by any new State wishing to join the European Union is subject to a referendum or a vote by Parliament meeting in Congress passed by a three-fifths majority.
The European Union and its 27 Member States provide approximately 46% in overall official development assistance (ODA). The European Union is hence the world’s leading donor, contributing €66.8 billion in 2020, up 15% compared with 2019. This accounts for 0.50% of the gross national income (GNI) of the European Union and its Member States (0.41% in 2019), which brings them significantly closer to the objective of devoting 0.70% of collective GNI to ODA by 2030.
Resulting from a European Commission proposal in 2018, the regulation relating to the new single instrument of EU external action, the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument-Global Europe (NDICI-Global Europe), entered into force in 2021. With €79.5 billion from the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) (2021-2027), this new instrument unifies most European instruments, including the European Development Fund (EDF).
The NDICI-Global Europe is an instrument used to implement EU development policy (with a target of 93% of development assistance) while also merging former instruments of international cooperation with industrialized countries.
In addition to streamlining and unifying European development instruments, the creation of the NDICI-Global Europe marks a major change in European development policy in several respects :
The EDP dates back to the beginning of European integration, with the implementation of the European Development Fund provided for by the Treaty of Rome of 1957, and the conclusion in 1963 of the Yaoundé Convention, which bound the 6 States of the European Community with 17 African States.
Enshrined in Article 208 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the EDP is now a shared competence with the primary objective of reducing and eradicating poverty.
In 2005, the European Consensus on Development stipulates its values, objectives and principles to be implemented by the Union and its Member States in their development policies.
A New European Consensus on Development was signed in 2017, in connection with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. European development assistance thus contributes to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which have replaced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), focusing its action on the “five Ps” : Peoples, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership.
In the 2014-2020 period, ODA of European institutions was divided into several instruments :
Geographic instruments :
Thematic instruments including :
https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-18-3081_en.htm
https://europa.eu/european-union/topics/development-cooperation_fr
Updated : January 2022
