ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКІ СУСІДИ ЄВРОСОЮЗУ – СПІВУЧАСНИКИ ІНТЕГРАЦІЙНОГО ПРОЦЕСУ

КОНФЕРЕНЦІЯ В ЄВРОПАРЛАМЕНТІ ЩОДО СХІДНОГО ВИМІРУ ЄПС

4-5 червня ц.р. в Європейському Парламенті проходила конференція, присвячена стану та перспективам зв’язків між Європейським Союзом та країнами Східної Європи – учасницями Європейської політики сусідства (ЄПС).

У конференції поряд із європарламентарями взяли участь представники національних парламентів України, Молдови, Грузії, Азербайджану та Вірменії, а також Комісар ЄС з питань зовнішніх відносин та Європейської політики сусідства Б.Ферреро-Вальднер.

Україну на заході представляв Голова Комітету ВРУ з питань європейської інтеграції Б.Тарасюк.

Учасники конференції відзначили, що ухвалена у 2004 році ЄПС вимагає визнання нових реалій як у східноєвропейських країнах, так і самому Євросоюзі, а також кореляції із політикою розширення ЄС.

Українська сторона із задоволенням констатувала врахування в інституціях ЄС її побажань із цього питання. У залі домінувало усвідомлення необхідності диференціації двох вимірів сусідства – середземноморського та східноєвропейського, а також доцільності застосування індивідуального підходу до кожної країни Східної Європи, що визначатиметься особливостями її розвитку та її баченням цілей європейської інтеграції.

Конференція щодо східного виміру ЄПС стала важливим етапом у процесі посилення міжпарламентського формату взаємодії між ЄС та його східноєвропейськими сусідами. Українська сторона висловила готовність до подальшої конструктивної участі у цьому форматі.

За підсумками конференції учасники ухвалили консенсусний документ (нижче).

PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE

ON THE EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICY EAST

Conference Statement adopted on 5 June 2008

Members of the European Parliament, of the Parliamentary Cooperation Committees between the European Union and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine met at the Parliamentary Conference on the European Neighbourhood Policy East on 4-5 June 2008 to debate the prospects of strengthening EU´s policy towards its Eastern European neighbours and reinforcing of the links between the European Parliament and the parliaments of those east European countries.

The representatives of the United Democratic Forces of Belarus were also invited by the European Parliament to participate in the Conference.

The main theme discussed was how the available EU foreign policy frameworks, ranging from the Enlargement policy to the European Neighbourhood Policy, can be used in a pragmatic and flexible manner to strengthen the established partnerships in order to offer the EU´s Eastern neighbours substantial encouragement and support for their reform efforts.

The participants of the Conference took into account the report of the EP on strengthening of the European Neighbourhood Policy approved on 15 November 2007, the Commission's Communication on a strong ENP of 5 December 2007, Council’s Conclusions on ENP on 18 February 2008 and related progress reports on the implementation of the ENP, as well as the joint Polish-Swedish proposal on Eastern Partnership, and expressed belief that these and other related initiatives could help promote further the good governance and the respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights in the EU neighbourhood, thus strengthening stability and prosperity on the entire European Continent.

The Parliamentary Conference on the European Neighbourhood Policy East

1. supports the policy of the European Union on strengthening the relations with its current immediate neighbours, which presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the European Parliament and the national parliaments, represented at the Conference;
2. considers the strengthening and substantial deepening of cooperation between the EU and its east European neighbours of major importance for the promotion of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law, the full respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of the States, as well as for enhancing stability, security and prosperity on the whole European continent; in particular stresses the importance of upholding the principle of free and fair elections based on the recommendations of the Venice Commission, including the respect of the rights of opposition political forces and their access to public media;
3. underlines that the protracted conflicts in the east European neighbourhood constitute a threat for the security and stability in Europe and represent a major obstacle to achieving political stability, economic development and comprehensive regional cooperation, as well as to the fulfilment of the ENP 's key purposes; in this regard, calls for increased efforts of all parties involved towards settlement of the conflicts on the basis of international law as enshrined in the UN Charter and in the Helsinki Final Act;
4. underlines that the ENP constitutes for all countries involved not only an opportunity to integrate closer with the EU, but also a key instrument for the implementation and spread of European values;
5. underlines that various mechanisms and instruments of the ENP constitute for all countries involved an opportunity to integrate closer with the EU;
6. supports those initiatives aimed at promoting inclusive regional cooperation, including EU Black Sea Synergy initiative, SEECP and others; stresses the need for intensified implementation of the existing EU-supported projects in the region in the field of transport, energy, border management and environment;
7. takes the view that, although conceived as separate tools, the Enlargement policy and the ENP should be used in an interrelated and flexible way in order to respect expectations of the east European neighbours and the strategic interests of the EU;
8. underlines the necessity of taking into account as much as possible the distinctive characteristics of each east European neighbour and the different levels of the relationship with the EU; stresses in this regard that an appropriate form and an adequate level of cooperation and integration of each individual country with the EU should be developed;
9. stresses that the participation in the ENP does not preclude any perspective related to a possible EU membership; underlines in this regard that the progress of each east European neighbour in carrying out comprehensive reforms towards implementing the Copenhagen criteria should serve as a basis for the closer integration with the EU, including the possibility of EU membership perspective;
10. supports the overall aim to involve the civil society as well as local and regional authorities in the east European neighbourhood countries in the development, implementation and monitoring of the ENP Action Plans; calls upon the EU and east European neighbours if progress in implementation of the Action Plan priorities is achieved, to develop new joint tools (roadmaps, guidelines) based on principle of joint decision and responsibility;
11. is convinced that a motivating framework with medium-term implementation targets should be established, based on a new generation of association agreements to be negotiated with east European neighbours which respect fundamental European values, are willing to integrate more closely with the EU and demonstrate objective performance in terms of Action Plans implementation;
12. sees this conference as a further step towards an intensified and more active political cooperation and dialogue between the EP and the parliaments of the EU´s east European neighbour states;
13. calls upon the European Parliament and the national parliaments represented at the Conference to examine the issue of setting up an EU-Neighbourhood-East Parliamentary Assembly, where the EP and participating parliaments could provide appropriate mutual assistance for closer integration with the EU;
14. stresses the utmost importance of intensified people-to-people contacts including, the facilitation of visa procedures for students, scientists and businessmen, which would contribute to a better understanding between the societies of the EU and its east European neighbour states and demonstrate the benefits of cooperation to both sides;
15. stresses the importance of cooperation in the area of freedom of movement across the borders of the EU and its neighbours; supports the speedy commencement of negotiations on readmission and visa facilitation agreements between the EU and South Caucasus countries;
16. welcomes the longer-term aim of establishing a neighbourhood-wide free trade area, supports the negotiation of bilateral deep free trade agreements between the EU and the respective east European neighbour;
17. emphasises the importance of concrete activities to make the political dialogue and public debate livelier, more comprehensible and much closer to the citizens;
18. underlines the common will to organise public hearings on current topics of common European interest as well as lectures in universities by Members of the European Parliament and of the EU Parliamentary Cooperation Committees with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine;
19. emphasises its will to build up an information cooperation network between the European Parliament and the national Parliaments providing European, national, local and regional media with relevant information on their common activities as well as on current topics of common European interest;
20. underlines the importance of a closer cooperation of the administrations of the parliaments involved and of political opinion makers, and proposes, therefore, to set up a framework for training programmes on EU policies and on best practice sharing for civil servants and civil society leaders;
21. expresses its disappointment that the citizens of Belarus so far have not been able to enjoy the full benefits of the ENP due to the continued violations of human rights, the authoritarian nature and the self-isolationist policy of the Belarusian authorities; in this regard urges the Belarusian authorities to embark on democratic reforms and to positively respond to the EU's readiness to renew its relationship with Belarus within the framework of the ENP, as soon as the Belarusian authorities demonstrates respect for democratic values and for the basic rights of the Belarusian people, in particular: unconditionally releases all political prisoners, terminates persecution of the independent media, and carries out the upcoming elections in full accordance with the OSCE requirements;
22. as an important neighbour of both the EU and its East European neighbours, the Russian Federation is expected to take, whenever appropriate, due and positive approach to the projects within the scope of the ENP (for example, cross-border, social, infrastructure, energy, human dimension projects, etc);
23. calls on the President of the European Parliament and the Speakers of the parliaments of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine to take necessary steps to strengthen cooperation among respective parliaments and civil societies.