Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Commission Communication on A strong European Neighbourhood Policy
Date: 2008-10-09
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: European neighbourhood policy, Mediterranean Sea, Union for the Mediterranean, financing, fund (EU), migrant, third country

19.12.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 325/87

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Commission Communication on ‘A strong
European Neighbourhood Policy’

(2008/C 325/15)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— Recalls its conviction that a prosperous and secure neighbourhood can only be achieved through an
efficient co-operation at the local and regional level. Local and regional authorities are best placed to
identify and address citizens' needs and provide adequate services;

— Stresses the need to set up regional fora of sub-national authorities, in line with the regional approach
of the ENP (Mediterranean dimension, Northern Dimension, Atlantic dimension and Black Sea dimen-
sion) and to promote regional and decentralised cooperation;

— Welcomes the proposal presented at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on 26 May 2008 to build
closer ties with the EU's neighbours to the east; namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,
Moldova and Ukraine;

— Welcomes the relaunch of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and stresses the importance to give it a
territorial dimension and to support dialogue between local and regional authorities of EU Member
States and ENP partners in the Southern Mediterranean;

— Welcomes the new European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), which began oper-
ating in 2007, and especially its cross-border dimension, which allows cooperation with regions
bordering the EU (financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the ENPI);

— Urges the European Commission to create a new thematic fund in the EU Budget (in addition to the
European Integration Funds) to help local authorities in the EU Member States with particularly high
migrant influx from third countries to deal effectively with current challenges that migrant population
places on local services;

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Rapporteur: Councillor Sharon TAYLOR (UK/PES), member of Stevenage Borough Council

Reference document

Communication from the Commission ‘A strong European Neighbourhood policy’

(COM(2007) 774 final

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Political dialogue and decentralisation reforms

1.
Recalls its conviction that a prosperous and secure neigh-
bourhood can only be achieved through an efficient co-opera-
tion at
level. Local and regional
authorities are best placed to identify and address citizens' needs
and provide adequate services;

the local and regional

2.
Calls on ENP countries to adhere to and propagate good
election practices and to welcome international monitors to
observe their elections in order to increase transparency of elec-
tion process and consequently improve level of confidence of
citizens in democratic processes;

Calls on wider promotion of public awareness of the ENP
3.
amongst the citizens of both the EU and the ENP countries,
with the greatest possible involvement of
local and regional
authorities through specific programmes or actions;

approach of

in line with the

the ENP
regional
4.
(Mediterranean dimension, Northern Dimension, Atlantic
dimension and Black Sea dimension) and to promote regional
and decentralised cooperation, boosting partnership and devel-
opment programmes by means of integrated measures in the
relevant regions. Representatives of the CoR should be included
in the work of each Forum;

5. Welcomes Swedish-Polish joint proposal for the ‘Eastern
Partnership’ to the European Council;

6. Wishes to be associated with the EC in the process of
elaboration and evaluation of the ENPI programmes in order to
promote a better integration of those issues concerning the
territorial dimension within the operation framework of
the
ENPI;

Calls on the European Commission to support further
7.
programmes that work on development and support of free and
professional media in the ENP countries;

10.
Calls on governments of the partner countries to work
towards increasing transparency and accountability, as well as
towards creating sufficient administrative capacity, and calls on
the Commission to monitor closely the overall level of corrup-
tion and corruption prevention measures in those partner coun-
tries where corruption is still an impediment to the progress of
democracy, transparency and accountability and to take into
account the degree of progress made in these areas when giving
support and aid;

Calls on governments of

11.
Israel, Georgia, Tunisia and
Ukraine to ratify UN Convention against Corruption and join
the rest of the ENP countries that have already done so;

12. Welcomes the opening of a European Commission office
in Minsk, Belarus and hopes that office will be able to work
towards strengthening civil society and local and regional
democracy and improving general public awareness about
European Union, its institutions and shared values;

13.
Calls on the European Commission to urgently provide
more effective support for civil society in Belarus, independent
and professional media, as well as political parties committed to
democracy and reforms;

14.
Recalls that one of the key principles of the ENP is that
it remains distinct from the process and policy of EU enlarge-
ment as well as from the issue of EU membership. However, it
should not prejudge any possible future developments of
partner countries and the EU;

Calls on the EU Member States and the European
15.
Commission to offer the possibility of European perspective to
Ukraine and Moldova in upcoming new agreements following
conclusions of 10 years long Partnership and Cooperation
Agreements;

16. Welcomes the proposal presented at a meeting of EU
foreign ministers on 26 May 2008 to build closer ties with the
EU's neighbours to the east; namely Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine;

8.
Calls on the European Commission to put greater
emphasis on local economic development in countries' indivi-
dual Action Plans and allocate appropriate funds through ENPI;

Recognises

17.
the French presidency's efforts to renew
dialogue and multilateral cooperation with neighbouring coun-
tries from the south and east of the Mediterranean, thus helping
to strengthen the Barcelona Process;

Underlines

that Monitoring

9.
the
cross-border cooperation programmes are an important consul-
tation mechanism to resolve any difficulties that may arise in
relation to the operational modalities including management of
funds;

Committees

of

18. Welcomes continuing work on implementation of the
agreed action plans as they represent excellent tools to foster
countries' domestic reforms and urges the EU to work on
drafting action plans for all other remaining countries;

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19. Welcomes review of action plans entered into force in
early 2005 and call for development of Enhanced Agreements
with Moldova and Israel;

promoting local democracy, stability, good governance and
sustainable development;

Calls on the European Commission to include members
20.
of civil society in the ENP countries, where possible,
in the
process of monitoring the progress of ENP Action Plans in
order to acquire direct and impartial assessment of certain
implementation aspects of individual Action Plans;

Calls on the European Commission to include representa-
21.
tives of local and regional authorities of members states in the
process of monitoring the preparation and implementation of
individual countries' Action plans;

to

Recommends

22.
for
carefully
cross-border cooperation in the North and East as well in the
South in order to maximise synergies and work more effectively
towards objectives set up in Action Plans where agreed;

priorities

define

29. Welcomes the existing thematic EU funding streams, in
which ENP countries can already be involved,
like FP7 and
DAPHNE;

30.
Calls on local and regional authorities of European
Economic Area countries (Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) to
use their significant experience in building democratic institu-
tions in enlargement countries and help local and regional
authorities in ENP countries to increase their democratic capaci-
ties and develop their economies;

Calls on the European Commission and Member States
31.
to set up a mechanism for exchange of information on indivi-
dual and collective efforts in supporting civil society in ENP
countries in order to avoid duplication and increase synergies
between future programmes;

23.
Reaffirms that more technical and political support is
needed to ensure continuous cross-border and international
cooperation between the EU Member States and neighbourhood
countries over the shared border;

32. Welcomes the continuation of Tempus, Erasmus Mundus
and other programmes for academic cooperation in 2007-2010
period as they offer students from ENP countries an opportunity
to study;

24. Welcomes the new European Neighbourhood and Part-
nership Instrument (ENPI), which began operating in 2007, and
especially its cross-border dimension, which allows cooperation
with regions bordering the EU (financed by the European
Regional Development Fund and the ENPI);

33.
Calls on European Commission to support further coop-
eration between research institutions and think-tanks in ENP
countries and EU Member States as they provide a forum for
debate on issues that could be sensitive for their governments;

under

cooperation

programmes

25. Welcomes the start of the implementation process of the
cross-border
the
(CBC)
European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument and
stands ready to cooperate in overseeing the programmes. Calls
on Commission and Participating Parties to ensure the finalisa-
tion and the timely adoption of all CBC programmes. Stresses
the need to ensure that all of
the resources earmarked for
cross-border cooperation under the ENP are harnessed, redistri-
buting them, if necessary, among programmes that are already
up and running in the neighbouring region;

26. Welcomes the increased funding of cross-border coopera-
tion at the EU's external borders for the 2007-2013 period.
However calls on the European Commission to further increase,
in the framework of the new EU cohesion policy, INTERREG
funding after 2013 for trans-border cooperation between local
and regional authorities of the EU Member States and ENP
countries to tackle joint problems specific for the regions to
which these countries belong;

27.
Calls on Member States and participating countries to
make full use of TAIEX and twinning instruments in order to
provide targeted policy and/or legal advice to local and regional
authorities of ENP countries
legislative
approximation to ‘acquis communautaire’;

in the context of

Reiterates

28.
the emerging Black Sea
Euro-Region intended to promote cooperation at the local and
level between the countries of Black Sea basin thus
regional

support

for

its

Notices that with increased mobility and use of trans-
34.
port, production of CO2 and green-house effect gasses will
increase and calls on ENP countries to consider environmental
policies as fundamental to sustainable economic development.
Local and regional authorities in ENP countries have an impor-
tant role to play in developing communication and planning
that takes account of climate change issues. Local and regional
authorities in EU Member States should welcome a two way
dialogue on these issues;

35. Welcomes the relaunch of the Euro-Mediterranean Part-
nership and stresses the importance to give it a territorial
dimension and to support dialogue between local and regional
authorities of EU Member States and ENP partners in the
Southern Mediterranean. Considers that, as a tool for supporting
this process,
the European Neighbourhood and Partnership
Instrument should be adapted to take account of the renewed
Barcelona process;

36.
Calls for the development of fora of local and regional
authorities of EU Member States and ENP partners for the
Eastern dimension;

37.
Recalls the support given in the Political Declaration on
‘Cross-border co-operation in the Northern Regions of Europe’
(CoR 313/2006) for the initiative of the European Parliament to
organise a Northern dimension parliamentary forum and reiter-
ates the proposal that a suitable permanent body be established
to discuss issues of
importance in the
local and regional
Northern dimension policy;

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38. Welcomes the European Commission attaching appro-
priate significance to extending important transport corridors
into the EU's neighbouring countries as part of the ENP; an inte-
grated and sustainable transport network is crucially important
for taking forward the economic component of the ENP;

Mobility & Migration

Reiterates that mobility and contacts between people are
39.
reinforcing the capacity of ENP countries to benefit
from
economic integration, while progress on mutual understanding
would be exceptionally difficult without increasing opportunities
for ENP citizens to travel to the EU;

40. Welcomes the possibility for further exchanges between
EU Member States, enlargement countries and ENP countries of
local and regional government trainees and seconded officials;

Urges EU Member States to improve the process of
41.
issuing visas in order to increase the mobility of citizens. Par-
ticular attention should be paid to students, cultural and
academic exchange and representatives of civil society. Promo-
tion of people to people contacts will be improved if costs of
visas and the amount of red tape are reduced;

42.
Calls on EU Member States to improve the effectiveness
of consular services in ENP countries and encourages the estab-
lishment of common Schengen visa application centres in the
countries;

43. Welcomes the conclusion of visa facilitation and readmis-
sion agreements with Ukraine and with Moldova; urges the
European Commission to draw on its experience with countries
that have recently acceded the EU and start negotiating similar
agreements with other ENP countries;

Stresses

44.
that mobility is only possible in a secure
environment; this requires that the new Mobility Partnership
system will make it the joint responsibility of all countries to
tackle challenges posed by migration. For this reason, the ENP
countries must also be reminded of their obligation to do more
for security and justice. The new system should cover steps to
combat illegal migration and provide with more opportunities
for legal migration from ENP countries to the EU;

45.
Reiterates its belief that local and regional authorities are
on the front line of managing issues caused by migration. This
applies to illegal migration when local and regional authorities
have to manage reception and deal with the outcomes of illegal
employment. It also applies to legal migration when local and
regional authorities are responsible for provision of
local
services;

Acknowledges cooperation between FRONTEX (1) and
46.
local authorities in preventing illegal migration and calls for
further closer cooperation with local and regional authorities in
bordering Member States;

(1) FRONTEX (European Agency for the Management of Operational
Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the
European Union) is the European Union agency for external border
security.

47.
Calls on the European Commission to encourage and
contribute to the development of practical solutions to reinforce
management of the southern maritime external borders and
improve the capacity of the Community, its members and its
local and regional authorities to deal with critical situations such
as the mass influx of illegal immigrants (2), with the cooperation
of the countries of origin;

Urges

48.
the European Commission to create a new
thematic fund in the EU Budget (in addition to the European
Integration Funds) to help local authorities in the EU Member
States with particularly high migrant influx from third countries
to deal effectively with current challenges that migrant popula-
tion places on local services;

Calls on the European Commission to envisage the
49.
necessary means that will enable local authorities in the coun-
tries of migrants' origin,
from the
out-migration of the skilled workforce, to develop opportunities
which attract skilled and educated people and ensure local
economic and cultural development;

that particularly suffer

50.
in the
Calls on the European Commission to increase,
framework of the new EU cohesion policy, INTERREG funding
after 2013 for trans-border cooperation between local and
regional authorities of the EU Member States and ENP countries
to tackle joint problems specific for the regions that countries
belong;

51.
Calls on EU Member States to use ‘Local Border Traffic
Regulations’ which allows EU Member States to conclude
bilateral agreements with neighbouring third countries and
improve cross-border contacts; EU Member States should fast
track and simplify visa processing for applicants who have
previously complied with visa requirements;

Human rights and trafficking

Notes considerable progress

52.
in the improvement of
human rights and democracy since the beginning of the ENP
and Euro-Mediterranean Partnership programme and urges
governments of ENP countries to continue embracing universal
human rights and the principles of democracy as they constitute
the core values of the EU;

53.
Urges the European Commission to continue working
with local and regional authorities and civil society of the ENP
countries in order to improve human rights, minority rights,
women and children rights. Calls on Governments of ENP coun-
tries to display greater openness for the contributions from civil
society;

54. Welcomes measures undertaken by all ENP countries to
enhance women's participation in political, social and economic
life and to promote equal rights for women and men, but
notices,
that discrimination against women and domestic
violence are still very present; therefore calls on participating
countries to increase efforts in promotion of women's rights;

(2) CdR 64/2007 fin EN/o.

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Recognises that

55.
trafficking of human beings between
some ENP countries and the EU Member States is still a particu-
larly serious problem;

Calls on the Government of Belarus

56.
to ratify the
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental
and start
constructive dialogue with the EU and full participation in the
ENP;

and relevant protocols

Freedoms

57.
Reiterates the importance of the social dialogue and calls
on Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco to ratify ILO fundamental
conventions on the freedom of association and collective
bargaining;

58.
Urges the European Commission to prioritise the protec-
tion of the victims of trafficking in its Neighbourhood Policy, in
line with the respect for human rights, the core principle of
the EU;

therefore,

Points out that, regional and local authorities play an
59.
role in combating trafficking of human beings.
important
Recommends
in accordance with the respective
national legal frameworks, that local and regional authorities in
the ENP countries draw up and implement local and regional
anti-trafficking action plans and strategies in close co-operation
with central governments and the other Member States to
prevent trafficking and protect victims;

60.
Calls on local and regional authorities of EU members
states to help local and regional authorities in ENP countries to
develop action plans which could include the setting up a
specialised department
support unit at
level dedicated to action against human
regional and/or local
trafficking, awareness raising campaigns, specialised training for
police and professionals coming in contact with trafficked
persons, greater educational opportunities for women and chil-
dren, etc.;

resource centre or

61. Welcomes the fact that all ENP countries have signed the
UN Convention against Trans-national Organised Crime and
calls on governments of Israel, Morocco and Jordan to sign and
ratify the first and second protocols that concern human traf-
ficking and smuggling of migrants;

Endorses the presidency conclusions of

62.
the European
Council meeting of 1 September on the conflict in Georgia and
at the same time notes that local and regional authorities can

Brussels, 9 October 2008

play crucial role in conflict transformation and post-conflict
reconstruction; Calls on governments of Georgia, Russia and
authorities in South Ossetia to urgently make necessary steps
that will enable safe and sustainable return of all refugees and
internally displaced persons following the war in South Ossetia;

Regional conflicts

63.
Reiterates that the EU has a direct interest in working
with ENP countries in order to contribute to the resolution of
so called ‘frozen conflicts’ (3) as they can undermine European's
own security through regional escalation, unmanageable migra-
tory flows, disruption of energy supply, etc.;

64.
Reiterates that ENP will have difficulties reaching its full
potential unless the conflicts that make regional cooperation
extremely difficult or impossible are resolved. People and local
communities on both sides of the borders suffer the most from
inabilities of their central governments to engage in dialogue
and constructive conflict resolution;

Calls on the EU to get more actively involved in resolu-
65.
tion of so called ‘frozen conflicts’ through support for various
confidence building programmes, conflict management, people
to people contacts, ‘city diplomacy’, as well as building capaci-
ties of civil society organisations in breakaway territories. The
EU should keep the issue of conflicts on the agenda when
meeting with relevant international institutions and countries;

66.
Calls on the European Commission to support border
management programmes and confidence building measures
between local communities on the both sides of the border of
the ‘breakaway’ regions. Fostering convergence between political,
economic and legal systems will enable better social inclusion
and infrastructure rehabilitation. Particularly important are local
income generation projects;

67.
Calls on the European Commission to draw experience
from the recent EU enlargement process and make good neigh-
bourly relations a precondition for full exploitation of benefits
and potential of the ENP. The Commission should encourage
countries concerned with ‘frozen conflicts’ to make fresh and
genuine efforts to find mutually acceptable and sustainable
solutions.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Luc VAN DEN BRANDE

(3) Conflicts in Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh,
Middle East and Western Africa are referred to as ‘frozen conflicts’.