Source: EURLEX
Language: en
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# 52011SC0645

**JOINT STAFF WORKING PAPER Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2010Sector Progress Report JOINT STAFF WORKING PAPER Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2010Sector Progress Report /\* SEC/2011/0645 final \*/**

  

JOINT STAFF WORKING PAPER

Implementation of the European
Neighbourhood Policy in 2010
Sector Progress Report

1.
Introduction

The Lisbon Treaty and the establishment, in
2011, of the European External Action Service provide new opportunities for the
EU to strengthen relations with its neighbours. The European Neighbourhood
Policy’s (ENP) aims to deepen political dialogue and cooperation and to achieve
a very substantial degree of economic integration with the Eastern and Southern
neighbours.

Against this background, it is key to
continue strengthening sector dialogue and sector cooperation with ENP partners
in a wide range of areas such as: employment; social policy; trade and trade
related matters; justice and home affairs issues, including migration, mobility
and security; transport; environment; climate change; energy; student mobility;
education, culture and health.

Sector dialogue supports the ongoing,
longer-term, deep reform process of partners both in the South and the East.
Sector reform contributes to greater prosperity for all citizens including the
youth and underpins efforts towards better governance. Sector cooperation also
helps prepare partners to negotiate and, in the future, to implement deep and
comprehensive free trade agreements. Through the transfer of sector reform
experience, the EU is able to support approximation of legislation, strengthen
the capacity and enforcement capabilities of institutions and prepare the
sector stakeholders for reform. Sector dialogue can also be conducive to conflict
prevention and resolution, for example as in the case of Transnistria. It can
also support state building, as in the case of the occupied Palestinian
territory.

In 2010, sector dialogues were held in
numerous fora including in sector subcommittees and working groups under the
bilateral agreements with ENP partners. Several new subcommittees with the
South Caucasus countries were launched in 2010. High level and technical
dialogues, as well as exchanges in the context of European Neighbourhood and Partnership
Instrument (ENPI) projects, also contributed to strengthening sector relations
with ENP partners.

The present report provides an overview of
ENP partners’ progress, in 2010, on a range of sectoral policies. It also
describes certain ENPI related issues (Neighbourhood Investment Facility,
TAIEX, Twinning, SIGMA). Bilateral financial cooperation is dealt with in the
country progress reports. This report furthermore summarises progress on
preparation for the participation of ENP partners in EU programmes and
agencies. The document is completed by Annexes on these issues, on political
and economic indicators and on mobility.

2.
Social reform and development

The measures to
boost employment, increase social cohesion, reduce inequalities and ensure
inclusive growth were negatively effected by the lasting impact of the global
financial and economic crisis on already strained public finances and budgets.

The employment
situation improved in some countries in step with the global economic
outlook, while other countries continued to struggle. In nearly all countries,
the labour market remains segmented with a high share of informal employment
and precarious work situations and the development of the skills needed to
support the diversification of the economy, investment and the modernisation of
the labour market remains a major challenge. Poor employment and social
prospects for the young generation in particular, nurtured discontent and
contributed to social unrest in the Southern region.

Efforts to
reduce poverty in the ENP partner countries were curbed by the necessity
to contain budget deficits. The remittances were on the increase from 2009, but
generally still below the 2008 level, impacting particularly Armenia and
the Republic of Moldova.

Reforms of pension
systems are under way in several countries and the provisions for social
protection were reviewed in most ENP countries in an attempt to counter the
impact of the global recession on the vulnerable population as well as on
public finances. Social inclusion approaches often suffer from uncoordinated
interventions of a multitude of institutions and players and from the related
lack of capacity to cooperate efficiently on delivering services to the people.
Under these circumstances, the efforts for social inclusion were rather
marginal, but the Republic of Moldova ratified the UN convention on the
rights of disabled persons.

The framework
for social dialogue was undergoing a slow change, and modest changes
were introduced in 2010 in most countries, most notably in the legislation but
the impact on the ground of the modest changes introduced in legislation in
2010 has yet to be confirmed in the general climate of limited independence and
poor capacities of social partners.

The provisions
for social protection were reviewed in most ENP countries in an attempt
to counter the impact of the global recession on the vulnerable population, as
well as on public finances. Under these circumstances, the efforts directed
towards social inclusion were rather marginal, although the Republic
of Moldova ratified the UN convention on the rights of disabled persons.

The
participation of women in economic and political life made little
progress, although the highest ever share of female candidates in the Lebanese
municipal elections (8.2%) is a welcome sign of improvement. Egypt
organised training events for women community leaders, while Lebanon, Tunisia
and Morocco directed their efforts at combating domestic violence.

Sustainable
development

Despite the global environment of financial
and economic crisis, most of the partner countries' economies performed well in
2010. However, the lack of structural reforms, the high unemployment rates and
persistent levels of poverty remain disappointing and endanger the long term
objective of sustainable development, including environmental
protection.

3.
Trade, market and regulatory reform

Some progress
was made in 2010 in the area of trade and economic integration.
Negotiations on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with Ukraine
continued through several negotiation rounds in 2010, although progress was
rather limited. Progress in the negotiations on the trade related part of the
framework agreement with Libya was also slow. A fact-finding mission to
explore the possibility of DCFTA negotiations with the Republic of Moldova
took place in June 2010 and the European Commission presented its key
recommendations in October 2010. Armenia and Georgia continued to
make progress in their DCFTA preparations. A Commission proposal for extending
the current ATP Regulation for the Republic of Moldova, which would also
include a significant increase in the wine quota, was presented to the Council
for approval.

There was good
progress regarding the negotiation of agreements on further liberalisation of
trade in agricultural, processed agricultural products and fish and fishery
products with the Mediterranean partners; the EU-Egypt agreement entered
into force in June 2010, and the EU-Morocco agreement was signed in
December 2010. Also in December 2010, the Commission
and the Palestinian Authority initialled a draft agreement which is
expected to support the development of the economy of the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip. Negotiations with Tunisia continued fruitfully and some exploratory
talks on possible future negotiations on the liberalisation of trade in
agricultural, processed agricultural and fish and fisheries products took place
with Lebanon in May 2010.

Negotiations
with the Mediterranean ENP partners on the liberalisation of services
and the right of establishment made little progress in 2010.

The Agreement on Conformity Assessment and
Acceptance for Industrial Products (ACAA) with Israel was signed in May
2010 in the sector of Good Manufacturing Practice of Pharmaceuticals.

Good progress was made in the area of
protection of "Geographical Indications" (GIs). In July 2010, the
European Union and Georgia concluded negotiations on a bilateral
agreement for the protection of their respective GIs. The GI’s negotiations
with the Republic of Moldova proceeded fruitfully during the
reporting period. GIs are handled with Ukraine in the framework of the
negotiations on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Moreover, in
the framework of the agreement on further liberalisation of trade in
agricultural, processed agricultural products and fish and fishery products,
the EU and Morocco agreed to start negotiations on GIs within three
months following the entry into force of the agreement.

Some progress was achieved in the
negotiations of Protocols establishing a Dispute Settlement Mechanism
applicable to disputes under the trade provisions of the bilateral Association
Agreement with the Mediterranean partners. The EU and Egypt signed the
protocol in March 2010, while the protocol with Lebanon was signed in December
2010.

The 9th Union
for the Mediterranean Trade Ministerial meeting, which was held in Brussels on
11 November 2010, endorsed a package of measures to facilitate trade in Palestinian
products with other Euro-Mediterranean partners in line with the Euromed
Trade Roadmap for 2010 and beyond. The ministerial meeting also agreed that the
working priorities for 2011 should focus on the following issues: a
Euro-Mediterranean trade and investment facilitation mechanism; enhanced cooperation
with the business community on Euro-Mediterranean trade and investment
relations; reinforced cooperation in the area of the fight against piracy and
counterfeiting in the Euro-Mediterranean region; and enhanced sectoral
cooperation

As reported last year, some customs administrations
in partner countries, such as Israel, Morocco, the Republic of Moldova and Tunisia,
have already implemented a large part of the customs-related commitments in
their respective Action Plans and are continuing their reform process. Georgia
and Jordan amended their customs legislation with the introduction of a
new Code and a
temporary law amending the customs law. Several ENP partners are implementing national strategic
plans to modernise customs services (the Republic of Moldova, Jordan, and Morocco) and to enhance the
automation of customs procedures (Armenia, Lebanon, Georgia,
Jordan, and the Republic of Moldova). Several partners, such as Georgia and the
Republic of Moldova are strengthening the use of risk analysis. An interactive
English version of the website of the Egyptian Customs Authority is now
available to operators. The facilitation of trade for reliable operators remains a priority, and several
countries continued their efforts to ensure the security of the supply chain
based on international standards (WCO) and made progress on the concept of
“authorised economic operators” (AEO). Several countries are working towards
the creation of a single window environment. The question of customs ethics is
being tackled in most countries, but it remains a concern, especially in Ukraine,
where cumbersome, bureaucratic and restrictive customs controls are
applied, and in Azerbaijan. Georgia and
Ukraine have made no real progress towards ensuring the proper
implementation of WTO-compatible customs valuation rules. Several
Mediterranean partners (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, oPt, Syria and
Tunisia) participated in the "SIROCCO" joint customs operation
conducted in June 2010. SIROCCO is a joint customs operation, coordinated by
OLAF and carried out by the customs administration of the EU and eleven partner
countries from the southern rim of the Mediterranean. The customs services in
the region, and in particular the Republic of Moldova and Morocco,
also reinforced IPR protection and the fight against pirating and
counterfeiting. The European Commission and the State
Customs Committee of Belarus continued discussions on issues of common interest.

On standards,
technical regulations and conformity assessment, most ENP partner countries
continued their preparatory work towards the conclusion of bilateral agreements
on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAAs). In May
2010, the EU and Israel signed an ACAA agreement in the sector of Good
Manufacturing Practice of Pharmaceuticals. Egypt and Tunisia are
also well advanced in their ACAA preparations.

Negotiations on
the liberalisation of services and establishment with Egypt, Israel,
Morocco and Tunisia made no progress in 2010.

Regarding sanitary
and phyto-sanitary (SPS) issues, the ENP partners continued to make
progress in 2010. As stated in last year’s report, substantial efforts remain
necessary in order to achieve the ENP Action Plan objectives and to prepare for
(possible) future deep and comprehensive free trade agreements between the EU
and ENP partners. ENP partners adopted a food safety strategy (Georgia)
or made progress with the preparation of such a strategy (Armenia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine). Most
ENP partners adopted or prepared legislation which, to some extent, is
increasingly approximated with EU standards. The European Commission and the occupied
Palestinian territory initiated a gap analysis regarding SPS legislation
and institutional capacity which was supported by TAIEX.

ENP partners trained
SPS staff and strengthened laboratories (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine). In 2010, additional ENP partners were connected
to the external window of the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Israel, Jordan). In 2010, the
European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office carried out fourteen
inspection visits to ENP countries covering various sectors (Egypt, Georgia,
Israel, Jordan, the Republic of Moldova,
Morocco and Ukraine). In April 2010,
Eastern ENP partners participated in a seminar on handling food emergencies and
crises, organised jointly by the Commission and the European Food Safety
Authority and held in Kyiv. A similar event for Mediterranean ENP partners was
held in October 2010 in Parma. The EU and the ENP
partners continued exchanging experience through other training events,
including in the context of the Commission’s ‘Better Training for Safer food’
programme. In July 2010, the EU and the Eastern partners held a first
meeting on SPS and animal welfare issues under the Eastern Partnership panel on
trade and trade-related regulatory approximation. The
EU and its partners pursued SPS cooperation through ongoing (twinning) projects
under the ENPI. A new twinning was launched with Israel. SPS cooperation
with Belarus continued, including on the subject of rabies.

All countries
made efforts to improve their business climate, but only some of them
managed to improve their comparative ranking in the global race. The main
beneficiaries were new entrepreneurs, because many countries have made it
easier to set up a company. Increased transparency in the functioning of public
institutions is likely to benefit the business climate throughout the region.
The legal framework for the establishment of a company by non-nationals
did not change in 2010. Other changes in company law concerned business
registers in Egypt and Israel, minimum capital in Jordan, and investor
protection in Georgia.

In 2010, most of the partner countries worked on the implementation
of their respective tax administration reform. Activities range, for
example, from the development of electronic declaration
systems, (Armenia, Georgia, Tunisia) to the development of risk-based
controls (Armenia). Both Georgia and Ukraine adopted a new
Tax Code and most of the partners continued to expand the network of bilateral treaties on the avoidance of double taxation
with EU Member States. The Republic of Moldova approved a
new regulation on VAT refunds in October 2010, aimed at simplifying the refunds
procedure and increasing transparency, while the VAT collection and management
system in Ukraine remained dysfunctional.

In the field of
competition policy, some countries (Armenia, Egypt, Georgia, Ukraine)
continued their reforms towards establishing a modern competition policy.
However, overall, there are still many challenges in implementing competition
policies in many ENP countries (Azerbaijan, Jordan, Lebanon, the Republic of
Moldova, Morocco, Tunisia) where an adequate legal and institutional
framework is not yet in place.

The legal
protection of intellectual property rights was reinforced in particular
in the Eastern Partnership countries, where Armenia adopted a law on
trademarks, Georgia a law on design and an amendment to the patent law,
and the Republic of Moldova a law on copyrights. Ukraine
acceded to the Singapore treaty and the Strasbourg agreement. Jordan amended
the trademark fees’ schedule. Vigorous enforcement of the legal provisions is
still needed, as demonstrated by the high rankings of the EaP countries in the
report of May 2010 by the Business Software Alliance, where they all appear on
the world list of the fifteen highest piracy rates.

On financial
services, despite the effects of the global financial and economic crisis,
most partner countries continued to make some progress in implementing the
modernisation of their financial sectors. New banking laws (Israel, Jordan, the
Republic of Moldova, Palestinian Authority, Ukraine) and laws
regulating the non banking financial sector (Azerbaijan, Egypt, the Republic
of Moldova, Morocco) were under consideration in several ENP
countries.

Most countries
improved their public procurement mechanisms either by drafting or
adopting new laws, by setting up procurement agencies or review authorities, or
by developing electronic procurement systems. Training the economic operators
to understand the new system was an important part of the implementation of the
reforms.

In the area of
free movement of capital and payments, ENP partners made modest
progress. Morocco facilitated the availability of international credit
cards, but Ukraine reinstated some restrictions.

All ENP partner
countries further improved their statistics with a view to conforming
more closely to European and international standards. They have recently
introduced new legislation, worked on development plans and provided to the EU
a considerable number of statistical data in various areas including trade,
energy and demography.

Many of the
developments in consumer protection came about through other areas of
co-operation, such as the air services agreements that the EU signed with Georgia
and Jordan, and which include, among others, harmonisation with EU rules
in that area. In Ukraine the financial sector regulators developed
consumer protection measures for financial services. Jordan developed a
specific consumer protection law and Lebanon reactivated its consumer
protection council. In July 2010, Israel initiated a review of the
Israeli standard on the safety of toys with a view to adopting the EN European
Standard. Jordan transposed several European standards and prepared
draft regulations in some priority sectors (e.g. electrical products and
electronic appliances, toys and gas appliances equipment).

As regards co-operation
in the field of public internal financial control (PIFC) in the
framework of public finance management, the Republic of Moldova and
Ukraine continued their reform efforts by establishing and implementing
control systems and internal audit. Inter-Ministerial cooperation to prevent
irregularities needs ongoing attention. Reforms gathered pace in Armenia and
Georgia, while initiatives stagnated in Azerbaijan. Steady
advances were made in Jordan, the occupied Palestinian territory, and
Morocco and Tunisia, but they lost momentum in Egypt and
Lebanon. Public internal financial control, which is based on
advanced principles such as managerial accountability and operationally
independent and decentralised internal audit, can only develop successfully under
the principle of transparency inherent in a democratic state order.

In the area of enterprise
policy, many regional activities took place in both ENP south and
ENP east.

The
Mediterranean partner countries continued implementing the 2009-2010 work programme
on Euro-Mediterranean industrial cooperation and the Euro-Mediterranean Charter
for Enterprise. Syria, together with Egypt and the Palestinian
Authority, launched a regional survey on the added value of the Charter
process and on the possible need to revise the Charter. Jordan consulted
partner countries on their priorities for future Charter activities. Based on a
proposal from Tunisia, the European Training Foundation completed a very
successful pilot project on entrepreneurial learning in higher education.
Exchange of knowledge and good practice continued with the publication of a
directory of on-line manuals, the development of a Euro-Mediterranean good
practice data base and the participation of Mediterranean partner countries in
many European and Euro-Mediterranean events, including those organised by the
regional, EU-supported 'Invest in MED' programme and under the dialogue on the
textile sector.

The Eastern Partnership economic platform
created a specific panel for ‘Small and Medium Enterprises’ (SME panel), which
provides a forum for exchange on enterprise policies in the six eastern
partnership countries and in the EU. A number of projects were launched under
the SME Flagship Initiative, namely East-Invest (networking); TAM/BAS (advisory
services) and SME Facility (funding). Also, the Eastern partner countries
welcomed the "Enterprise Policy Performance" project, conducted by
the European Commission, the OECD, the European Training Foundation (ETF) and
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The general
tendency in the ENP area is towards applying the International Financing
Reporting Standards for accounting at least for major companies with
international exposure. Regarding audit Egypt started up the
operations of an independent oversight board, the Republic of Moldova
further developed its board, and Israel developed plans to establish
such a board.

4.
Cooperation on justice, freedom and security

In the field of migration, dialogue
with ENP partners was pursued mainly at bilateral level through the available
institutional frameworks, such as the Justice and Home Affairs Subcommittees
and the Working Groups on Migration. New subcommittees on Justice and Home
Affairs were established with Armenia and with Azerbaijan. The European
Commission supported dialogue in this field also at regional level, in
particular through the EUROMED Migration project II.

The EU signed visa facilitation and
readmission agreements with Georgia, which entered into force in March
2011. Progress has been made in the EU-Ukraine
visa dialogue which entered into the operational phase in November 2010 on the
basis of an action plan setting out all technical conditions to be met by
Ukraine before the possible establishment of a visa-free travel regime. As
regards the Republic of Moldova, following the launch of the visa
dialogue, in June 2010, a similar action plan on visa liberalization with a
view to the visa dialogue entering a fully operational phase was presented in
January 2011.

The implementation of the Visa Facilitation
and Readmission Agreements with both Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova
continued. In October 2010, the Commission adopted draft negotiating directives
for the renegotiation of the Visa Facilitation Agreements in order to
align them with the new Visa Code and introduce further facilitations.

Regarding
the Mobility Partnership with the Republic of Moldova, new initiatives were included, covering areas such
as strengthening organisational and institutional capacity of the country to regulate
legal migration flows, the promotion of sustainable use of remittances and
their attraction into the local economy, supporting the implementation of the
EU-Republic of Moldova visa facilitation and readmission agreements, protection
of victims of trafficking, analysing the effects of migration on families left
behind, as well as protection of refugees and asylum seekers. The
implementation of most of these projects will start in 2011.

The
mobility partnership with Georgia entered the implementation phase with
a project on the reintegration of migrants and other activities. Several other
projects have been approved for funding, with implementation starting shortly.
Discussions started in 2010 between the EU, Armenia and a group of EU
Member States for the establishment of a Mobility Partnership with Armenia.

ENP partners
continued to enhance their border management capacities to combat
cross-border and organised crime. They also further approximated the border and
law-enforcement authorities to EU standards. Efforts to professionalise border
management services need to be resolutely pursued, including through technical
training of staff in order to maintain the capacity to ensure effective border
controls and surveillance. The continuing work on border demarcation and
delimitation serves to underpin the above efforts, as well as contributing to
overall regional security. The Republic of Moldova and Ukraine
adopted Integrated Border Management Strategies.

The third and
fourth meetings of the Eastern Partnership Integrated Border Management (IBM)
Panel were held in Brussels in June and in Chisinau in November 2010. The Panel
took stock of the development of the Eastern Partnership IBM Flagship
Initiative, which includes training activities to enhance the surveillance
capacity of the Eastern partners, as well as pilot projects on technical
equipment and border-crossing infrastructure.

Regarding the
fight against organised crime, the First Protocol to the UN Convention
against Trans-national Organised Crime to Prevent, Suppress and Punish the
Trafficking of Persons, especially Women and Children, has been signed and
ratified by all partners except Morocco. Neither Jordan nor Morocco
have signed or ratified the Second Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by
Land, Sea and Air. The Third Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and
Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts, Components and Ammunition remains to be
signed and ratified by Armenia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Ukraine.
As was the case in 2009, the full and effective implementation of
established national plans and strategies against all forms of organised crime,
particularly in the context of regional cooperation, remained a priority for
all partner countries.

Most ENP
partners continued to implement the national action plans adopted to fight
trafficking in human beings, including victim support measures, while
working on the design and adoption of successor action plans. In this regard,
renewed attention needs to be paid to the rehabilitation of victims, including
social and medical services. In 2010, substantial new laws were adopted in Egypt
and drafted in Lebanon. Azerbaijan and Ukraine
ratified the 2005 Council of Europe Convention on Action against Human
Trafficking completing the ratification of this important instrument by all ENP
partners who are members of the Council of Europe.

Most ENP
partners continued to develop and implement national strategies to combat money
laundering and the financing of terrorism, incorporating the 40 + 9 FATF
(Financial Action task Force) recommendations. The work of MoneyVal continues
to serve as a reference point for reform. The Council of Europe’s 2005
Convention on the Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds
from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism has yet to be signed by Azerbaijan
and Georgia In 2010, Morocco and Tunisia indicated their
intention to apply to join the Egmont Group.

Regarding the
fight against drugs, all partner countries continued implementing their
obligations under the 1988 UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic
and Psychotropic Substances, and other international instruments. Continued
attention to human resource development and capacity building within designated
national authorities and other law enforcement agencies is still required. As
stated in 2009, effective intelligence-sharing among ENP partners and other
geographical neighbours on drugs production and trafficking supply routes is
critical for regional cooperation. The implementation of an integrated approach
requires structured cooperation with civil society groups, including the
development of harm-reduction and rehabilitation programmes. In October 2010,
ENP partners including Belarus, Libya and Syria participated in a
TAIEX-funded regional seminar on the EU drug monitoring system and the
prospects for technical cooperation with the European Monitoring Centre for
Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Jordan joined the Council of Europe’s
Pompidou Group in 2010, while the latter’s cooperation with Algeria, Egypt,
Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia continued under the MedNet network with
training seminars on drug treatment, school surveys (MedSPAD), supply
indicators and data collection.

On police
and judicial cooperation, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the
Republic of Moldova did not sign the 2001 Second Additional Protocol
to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters to protect
individual rights in the processing of personal data. This protocol is still
awaiting ratification by Armenia and Ukraine.

In the area of criminal
law cooperation, Azerbaijan ratified the Council of Europe Convention on
Cybercrime, but Georgia has yet to ratify it. Azerbaijan and Georgia
did not sign the 2003 Additional Protocol of that Convention concerning the
criminalization of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through
computer systems. In 2010, Armenia signed the Council of Europe
Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual
Abuse, whereas it has still to be ratified by Azerbaijan, Georgia, the
Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. In addition, the 1997
Additional Protocol to the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons has
yet to be signed by Azerbaijan and ratified by Armenia. As was
the case in 2009, further attention is required in order to ensure the
ratification and effective implementation of these Conventions. Non-Council of
Europe ENP partners are encouraged, where possible, to accede to the 1983
Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and its 1997
Additional Protocol, as well as the 2001 European Convention on Cybercrime and
its 2003 Additional Protocol. In 2010, Lebanon and Morocco
indicated their interest in acceding to the European Convention on Cybercrime.

With regard to civil
law, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan and Ukraine
continued their cooperation under the Hague Conference on Private International
Law working on international protection of children, family and property
relations, legal cooperation and commercial and finance law. In this context,
and in order to improve international legal assistance and cooperation, ENP
partners are encouraged, as they were in 2009, to accede - if they have not
already done so - to the 1980 Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International
Child Abduction; the 1996 Hague Convention on Parental Responsibility and the
Protection of Children; the 1965 Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of
Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents and the 1970 Convention on Taking of
Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters.

With the
assistance of The Hague Conference, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco
and Tunisia participated in the work of the Judicial Conference on
Cross-Frontier Family Law Issues – the so-called “Malta Process” which seeks to
promote expert dialogue on international child protection and family law
issues. The Malta Process is recognised by these ENP partners as a point of
reference in deliberating on and settling cross-frontier family law disputes.

In the context
of the Malta Process, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia took
part in December 2010 in two successful judicial seminars held in Rabat
(Morocco) on cross-border protection of children and families, related to the
1980 and 1996 Hague conventions and organized by the Supreme Court of morocco
and the Hague conference on Private International Law with the financial
support of the TAIEX instrument.

As regards data
protection, Azerbaijan andUkraine ratified the 1981
Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic
Processing of Personal Data. The latter is yet to be ratified by Armenia and
Azerbaijan. Ratification is essential in terms of developing further
judicial and police cooperation, as well as exchange of data with EUROJUST and
Europol. The 2001 Additional Protocol to the Convention, regarding supervisory
authorities and trans-border data flows, has yet to be ratified by Armenia and
the Republic of Moldova and signed by, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
A law on data protection entered into force in Morocco.

Regarding judicial
reform, work continued in order to enhance the capacity and efficiency of
the judiciary in line with relevant national reform strategies. Efforts to
secure greater judicial independence, effectiveness and impartiality faltered
in several partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Republic of
Moldova and Ukraine), while certain advances were noted in others
(Georgia, Jordan). A new reform strategy was adopted for the occupied
Palestinian territory, whereas the situation did not change substantially
in other ENP partner countries. National programmes for the continuing training
of judges, prosecutors and court staff continued to be implemented in several
partner countries (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, occupied Palestinian territory)
along with the upgrading of court administrative procedures and the improvement
of automated case management (Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of
Moldova, Morocco). Improvements in access to justice were also noted in the
Republic of Moldova and the occupied Palestinian territory. No
tangible progress was noted in the area of judicial reform in Lebanon, although
there were some signs of a political commitment to comprehensive reform
in Egypt and Tunisia following recent developments there.

In the area of penitentiary
reform, progress remained slow across Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Egypt, the Republic of Moldova, Morocco, Ukraine and Tunisia, while
reform advanced in Jordan in cooperation with international partners.
Prison overcrowding, including for remand prisoners, use of ill treatment and
torture and lack of access by human rights and international observers to
penitentiary facilities remain significant unaddressed issues in most ENP
partner countries. The use of parole and other alternatives to detention and
long-term incarceration need to be explored in parallel with improvements to
medical and social care.

In the area of juvenile
justice, there was a dialogue with Georgia, Jordan, Morocco and Ukraine
on the development of appropriate protection policies for child and young
offenders by law enforcement agencies. Customised juvenile justice approaches,
including juvenile parole boards, are necessary in order to develop appropriate
prevention and probation policies. The application of international standards
and norms on juvenile justice, particularly the 1985 UN Standard Minimum Rules
for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules) and the 1990 UN
Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (Riyadh Guidelines),
serve as one of the main reference points for policy dialogue.

All partner
countries except Syria completed ratification of the 2005 UN Convention
against Corruption. As a complement to their international obligations
under the above Convention, Egypt and Tunisia have yet to sign
the 2003 African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating
Corruption. Cooperation with civil society in the implementation of national
anti-corruption plans remains critical in all partner countries in order to
fight corruption in both the public and private sectors. Enhanced vigilance is
required in relation to transparency in public procurement, in order to
guarantee the accountability of public officials.

In 2010, the
Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and its 2003 Additional
Protocol, aimed at protecting domestic and foreign judicial arbitrators and
jurors from corruption, entered into force in Ukraine. The latter was
not signed by Azerbaijan and Georgia.

With regard to
civil service and public administration reform, further advances
in planning for a professional and accountable civil service were noted in Jordan,
the Republic of Moldova, the occupied Palestinian
territory and Ukraine, while the pace slackened further in Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia and Lebanon. The absence of comprehensive
reform strategies incorporating schedules for implementing ethics codes and
strengthening the quality of public service through training poses a serious
obstacle to further advances in the case of each ENP partner.

Regional cooperation
under the Euro-Mediterranean Justice Programme with the participation of
all Mediterranean ENP partners including Algeria and Syria continued
in 2010, covering the themes of access to justice and legal aid, resolution of
cross-border family conflicts and criminal and prison law.

All
Mediterranean partners, including Algeria and Syria, participated
actively in the EuroMed Police II programme which covers joint
cooperation activities and seminars for senior officers on specialized topics
of practical police cooperation in all fields of organized crime, terrorism,
drug and weapons trafficking.

5. Transport, energy, climate change, environment, civil protection,
research and innovation, information society, audiovisual sector

Regarding transport,
the partner countries continued to implement sector reforms to increase the
efficiency, safety and security of transport operations.

In the aviation sector, negotiations on more
comprehensive Euro-Mediterranean aviation agreements were launched with Tunisia.
In December 2010, the EU signed
comprehensive air services agreements with Georgia and with Jordan. The
agreements will open the respective markets and integrate Jordan and Georgia
into a Common Aviation Area with the EU. Jordan and Georgia will harmonise their
legislation with European standards and implement EU aviation rules in areas
such as aviation safety, security, environment, consumer protection, air
traffic management, competition issues and social aspects. Negotiations on a Common Aviation Area agreement with Lebanon
and Ukraine advanced slowly and need to be accelerated, particularly
in view of the importance of safety aspects in Ukraine. Most countries
continued to implement a policy of gradual introduction of EU standards.
However, the civil aviation administrations (in particular in relation to
safety oversight) and the performance of carriers need to be strengthened.

In the road sector,
a number of countries made
substantial progress regarding the introduction of
the digital tachograph under the UN-ECE AETR agreement on driving times and
rest periods.

Reform of the rail
sector is ongoing. In some countries (Egypt) very comprehensive
railway restructuring plans made good progress, while in other countries (Jordan,
the Republic of Moldova or Armenia)
rail policy concentrated on the upgrading or construction of new railway
infrastructure.

Partner countries paid particular attention
to maritime safety standards. However, certain
partners need to step up their efforts to implement these standards, especially
Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, which are still considered a high risk flag and remain on
the black list of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on port state control. Egypt,
Lebanon and Ukraine also remained on the black list.

A number of important
initiatives to promote regional transport cooperation continued.
The Euro-Mediterranean Transport Working Groups met regularly and agreed on
further steps to implement both the regulatory reform and related
actions of the Regional Transport Action Plan for the Mediterranean for
the period 2007-2013 in respect of transport network planning (RTAP).
EC-funded technical support is ongoing and multi-faceted. As part of the
SAFEMED II project to develop Euro-Mediterranean co-operation in the field of
maritime safety and security, in late 2010 a number of countries indicated
their willingness to share their AIS (Automatic identification systems) data
with the rest of the Safemed project beneficiary countries through the use of
the already established EC/EMSA MED AIS Regional Server located in Rome, Italy.
Furthermore, in the framework of the Motorways of the Sea-MEDAMOS project, work
has started on the development of a roadmap for a Motorway of the Seas
network in the Mediterranean, which also connects to the Trans European
Transport network (TEN-T). A short list of priority projects drawn up by the
Euro-Mediterranean Transport Infrastructure Working group has received
practical technical assistance in 2010 with a view to their
realization. These projects lie at the basis of the implementation of
the missing infrastructure links of the Trans Mediterranean Transport network
(TMN-T). Under the Euro-Mediterranean Aviation Project, plans have been
developed to create a cell within the EASA which is fully devoted to
cooperation with the Mediterranean Partners during the period 2011-2013. This
will favour the harmonisation of the standards and procedures of air safety
between the European Union and the Mediterranean Partners. Regional cooperation with Eastern partners has continued to make
progress in the Eastern Partnership and TRACECA
framework. Regarding the Eastern Partnership, transport cooperation was
launched in May 2010 under ‘Platform 2 on Economic Integration and Convergence
with EU Policies’. Transport cooperation will focus in particular on road
safety. The TRACECA Coordinating project has used a participatory
methodology that was developed to identify the list of TRACECA infrastructure
priority projects which were presented at the first TRACECA
Investment Forum, held on 12 October 2010 in Brussels. Most of the projects
presented, for instance the "Road/Armenian project "North-South
Corridor" and Road/Georgia Zestaponi-Samtredia Motorway Widening, will be
financed through EIB loans and grant schemes. As a follow-up to this exercise,
several projects were earmarked to receive practical technical assistance. The
foundations have been laid to develop a regional maritime safety and security
strategy in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. Also, in order to enhance maritime
trade and port operations and establish Motorways of the Sea for the Black Sea
and the Caspian Sea, a number of pilot projects have been developed, with the
close involvement of both the public and private sectors.

The EU and the ENP partners enhanced energy
dialogue and cooperation. The ENP partners took some steps towards reform,
increasingly aimed at achieving a measure of approximation with EU rules and
enhanced efforts on energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Bilateral
energy dialogue and cooperation continued, particularly in the energy
subcommittees and in the context of ENPI energy projects. The first ever
meetings of the energy subcommittees were held, in October 2010, with Armenia
and Georgia. In October 2010, the Commission and Egypt held an
energy dialogue under the EU-Egypt Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a
strategic partnership. In November 2010, the Georgian Prime Minister and the
Energy Commissioner co-chaired a Georgia energy investment conference in
Brussels. Also in November 2010, the EU-Ukraine Summit endorsed the
fifth progress report on the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) on Energy cooperation. In October 2010, the European
Commission and Belarus held an energy dialogue. Negotiations on an Energy
MoU with Algeria have not yet been concluded. The energy dialogue with Libya
continued in the context of the EU-Libya framework agreement
negotiations.

At regional/multilateral
level, the EU and the Eastern partners consolidated
cooperation under the Eastern Partnership (EaP). A second series of EaP
Energy Security Platform meetings were held in May and October 2010, focusing
on security of supply, oil supply and energy efficiency. In addition, in July
2010 an EaP workshop on electricity interconnection was held. The EU and the
Eastern partners continued their cooperation, including in the context of the ‘Baku initiative’ for EU-Black
Sea/Caspian energy cooperation. The areas of (project) cooperation remained
market integration, regulatory convergence, networks, energy efficiency and
renewable energy.

The EU and the Mediterranean ENP
partners made progress in the context of the Euro-Mediterranean
energy cooperation. Partners took steps, with EU support, towards the future
realisation of the Mediterranean Solar Plan and the Euro-Mediterranean gas and
electricity rings. Projects aimed at the integration
of the Maghreb (concluded in 2010) and Mashrek energy markets, regulation,
energy statistics, energy efficiency and renewable energy also continued. In June
2010, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia adopted an action plan for the
period 2010-2015, confirming their intention to establish a Maghreb electricity
market as a preparation for gradual integration with the EU energy market. As
reiterated during the dialogue with the parties, the European Commission
remains committed to re-activating the trilateral energy cooperation with
Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which has stalled due to the regional
conflict. The aim remains to establish a joint energy office and to facilitate
the development of projects of common interest, such as the joint “Solar for
Peace” initiative.

ENP partners adopted new energy strategies (Belarus,
Lebanon), implemented existing strategies, continued preparing new policies
(Egypt, Israel) or announced plans to update policies (Jordan, the Republic of Moldova). Partners
continued their efforts to enhance the (future) use of domestic energy
resources such as hydrocarbons (Azerbaijan, Israel, Jordan and
Tunisia), renewable energy sources, uranium (Armenia, Egypt and
Jordan) and oil shale (Armenia, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco).
In April 2010, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Syria, Turkey and
energy companies (including from the EU) signed a declaration on
the establishment of an oil shale cooperation centre. The EU supported this
process.

In 2010, several ENP partners continued
their preparations towards a degree of approximation with the internal
energy market. In May 2010 the Republic of Moldova became a
member of the Energy Community, following the entry into force of the new
electricity and gas laws. In December 2010, Ukraine ratified the Energy
Community Treaty and became a member in February 2011. In July 2010 Ukraine
adopted a new gas law which the EU considers to be a sound basis for starting
to align with the EU and Energy Community rules. In May 2010, Armenia
applied to become an observer of this Community. Georgia, which is
currently an observer under the Energy Community, looked into the possibility
of membership. In February 2010, the occupied Palestinian territory
established the electricity regulatory council.

ENP partners continued
to develop, construct and refurbish energy infrastructure, including power
plants (to deal with growing demand) and energy networks. The main gas
and oil export pipelines of Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum
(Turkey) and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (Turkey) also brought Caspian resources to the
EU in 2010. In June 2010, Azerbaijan and Turkey agreed on gas pricing
and transit through Turkey. This is a major step in the development of the
Azerbaijani Shah-Deniz-II gas field and the strategic Southern Gas Corridor.
The EU-European Investment Bank-World Bank study for a Caspian Development
Corporation was pursued with the central purpose of aggregating gas demand in
support of the Corridor’s development. In September 2010, the Heads of State of
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania, as well as the Hungarian Prime
Minister, endorsed the AGRI project (Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania
Interconnection). The aim of the project is to export liquefied natural gas
from Azerbaijan, via a Georgian Black Sea terminal, to Romania and beyond. Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine continued working towards
a Euro-Asian Oil Transportation Corridor. Azerbaijani, Georgian
and Bulgarian companies further studied the possibilities of developing
compressed natural gas supply to the EU across the Black Sea from the Georgian
coast.

Following up the joint 2009 EU-Ukraine conference on the modernisation
of the Ukrainian gas transit system, the EU agreed to support a feasibility
study and an environmental and social impact study on the modernisation of the
Ukrainian gas networks and underground gas storage facilities. In September
2010 the EU, the European Investment Bank, the EBRD and the World Bank agreed
to consider the reconstruction of sections of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod
gas pipeline as a ‘fast track’ project. Tunisia continued to
implement the project to double the capacity of the gas interconnection with
Italy. Algeria continued the construction of the “Medgaz”
interconnection with Spain and the preparations for the “GALSI” interconnection
with Italy.

Regarding electricity, Ukraine and the
Republic of Moldova continued with preparations to join the
interconnected electricity networks of continental Europe in the future.
Financing for a technical study is being identified. Belarus explored
with Lithuania and Poland the possibilities for electricity interconnections. Armenia
and Georgia, as well as Armenia and Iran, made progress on
new electricity interconnections. Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey continued
to work towards the Black Sea Electricity Transmission Line. The Republic of
Moldova further prepared electricity interconnections with Romania. Morocco
launched the construction of a third electricity connection with Spain. The
occupied Palestinian territory and Jordan continued studying an
additional electricity interconnection. Tunisia continued work on an
electricity interconnection with Italy.

ENP partners made further efforts to
promote and use renewable energy sources and to increase energy
efficiency. Strategies and laws in these areas were launched or are in
preparation (Algeria, Armenia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Republic of
Moldova, Morocco and Ukraine) and institutions were established or
strengthened (Azerbaijan, Lebanon and Morocco). ENP partners
further prepared and commissioned solar and wind power plant projects. In
October 2010, Georgia (Tbilisi) hosted a major conference of the
EU-supported Covenant of Mayors, aiming at promoting energy efficiency and the
use of renewables at local level.

Armenia and Ukraine
continued the safety upgrading of their nuclear power plants and
strengthened the nuclear regulatory authorities. Armenia and Russia
agreed to construct, expectedly in the period 2012-201/18 a new nuclear power
plant. Armenia continued to prepare a decommissioning strategy for the
Medzamor Nuclear Power Plant, as well as a nuclear fuel/radioactive waste
strategy. In 2010, Ukraine, the European Commission and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) completed their joint evaluation of
the nuclear safety of the country’s nuclear power plants. The evaluation concluded that there was full compliance with most of
the IAEA’s standards. Ukraine is making progress in addressing the cases of non-full
compliances. Ukraine took further steps to
restore the Chernobyl site to an environmentally safe condition. Belarus,
Egypt and Jordan further prepared their plans to construct a nuclear
power plant. Jordan launched the construction of a nuclear research
reactor.

In the field of
climate change, some partners (Armenia, Egypt,
Israel and Morocco) submitted national communications to the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change, including greenhouse gas inventories,
vulnerability assessments and mitigation and adaptation measures. The Republic of Moldova completed
a first draft National Low Emission Development Strategy and a draft National
Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. Israel launched a pilot
project for a voluntary greenhouse gas registry. Georgia organised a second Climate Week to raise awareness among
stakeholders. In the oPt, the Council of Ministers approved the
establishment of a National Committee on Climate Change.

The majority of partner countries continued
to prepare investment projects to promote the use of the Joint Implementation
and Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol. Some new projects in Egypt,
Israel, Jordan and Ukraine were
registered at UN level, but the vast majority
of projects have still not yet been formally registered. In the reporting period, international discussions and
negotiations on a post-2012
climate change regime
continued. The EU remains fully committed to the UN negotiating process with a
view to concluding a robust and effective legally binding international
agreement. All partner countries are encouraged to
fully implement the Cancun agreement and in particular devise a low carbon
development strategy including update information on target or actions that
they will implement.

Overall, there
was only modest progress in the field of environment. Egypt and the Republic of Moldova took some steps to strengthen environmental administration. Enhanced administrative and
implementation capacity, as well as enhanced resources, are still required in
partner countries, including cooperation and co-ordination between the
different authorities. Ukraine adopted a
National Environment Strategy until 2020. In the oPt, the Environmental Quality
Authority developed an Environment Sector Strategy for 2011-2013. Several partner countries took steps to prepare (Georgia)
or review and implement (Jordan) their overall environment
strategies and action plans. Some partner
countries continued to prepare (Armenia, Georgia, Morocco and the
Republic of Moldova) or review (Jordan) environmental
framework legislation. As regards
issue-specific legislation and implementing legislation, Israel adopted
new legislation on the packaging of waste, Jordan approved new
instructions on environmental audit and Tunisia adopted a Decree setting
emission limit values for air pollution from fixed sources. Algeria is
preparing new legislation on air quality and environmental liability. Implementation
and enforcement of environmental legislation continues to require attention. Azerbaijan
established the State Commission for Integrated Water Management and also
strengthened environmental authorities. Egypt took some steps to enhance
administrative capacities with regard to integrated coastal zone management and
marine pollution. As regards sector-specific strategies,
programmes and plans, Egypt
designed a waste management master plan for Cairo as a model for the rest of
the country. Azerbaijan submitted a National Implementation Plan for
2007–2020 under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs), and Armenia established inventories of landfills, obsolete
pesticides and PCBs. Lebanon began to prepare a National Water Strategy.
Morocco launched a programme for the protection of biodiversity and
published a new strategy for the management of water resources. In oPt,
the Council of Ministers approved a Water and Wastewater Strategy for
2011-2013.

Overall,
partner countries took limited steps to integrate environment considerations
into other policy sectors. Most partners still
need to complete or strengthen procedures for EIA, in particular with regard to
public participation. State-of-the-environment reports were prepared or
published in Georgia and Israel. Morocco started work on
drawing up regional reports on the state of the environment in five out of
sixteen regions. In most partner countries, further attention is required with
regard to access to information and public participation.

In January
2011, Armenia ratified the Protocol on Strategic Environmental
Assessments to the UNECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a
Trans-boundary Context. Overall progress remained limited in terms of ratifying
and signing international and regional environment conventions and protocols.
Furthermore, implementation of the many already ratified agreements remains a
challenge in most cases. Partner countries participated actively in various
regional initiatives, such as the Horizon 2020 Initiative and the Eastern
Partnership Flagship Initiatives. Partner countries also continued to participate
in activities under the EU Water Initiative, including national policy
dialogues in some countries. REC Caucasus and REC Moldova
continued to play an important role in enhancing stakeholder participation and
networking in the area of the environment. The European
Commission held a further technical environment meeting with Belarus
in October 2010. Environment sub-committees with Armenia
and Georgia
met for the first time. Construction and upgrading of
environment related infrastructure continued, including with the support of EU
financing instruments such as the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF), EU
Member States and International Financial Institutions. Many partners showed a
continued interest in EU experiences, and are increasingly ready to converge
with key elements of the EU’s environment directives.

In the field of
civil protection, the Community Civil Protection Mechanism was mobilised
in December 2010 to assist Israel to combat forest fires. Discussions
with the Republic of Moldova on an administrative arrangement are
underway. Partner countries continued to participate in the Eastern Partnership
flagship initiative and the Euro-Mediterranean Programme on preparedness of and
response to man-made and natural disasters.

Reforms in the Information Society
field are well advanced in most ENP countries, and some are progressing towards
the establishment of truly independent telecoms regulators. However, in many
cases the political situation does not yet allow the introduction of key
institutional safeguards supporting genuine independence (such as budget
autonomy, separation of regulatory and commercial activities, transparent
criteria for the appointment and dismissal of the board members, etc). Except
for Azerbaijan, Belarus, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian
territory, partner countries have established independent regulatory
authorities. Syria recently established a regulator. There is a need to
continue to strengthen administrative capacity or the independence of the
regulator in many countries, in particular in Algeria, Armenia, Egypt, Lebanon
and Ukraine. Overall, those countries which have opened the telecoms
markets the most (in relative terms), such as Israel, Jordan and Morocco,
have clearly benefited and are the countries where the share weight of the ICT
sector on the GDP is the highest in the region (14% in Jordan, 12.5% in Morocco).

At regional/multilateral level, the
Mediterranean partners continued to be involved in the second phase of
EUMEDCONNECT (whose high-capacity IP-based data-communications network serves
the research and education communities in seven countries across
the southern Mediterranean) and the activities supported by the
Euro-Mediterranean Group of European Regulators (EMERG). For example, in May
2010 a high level workshop on the establishment of "Independent Regulatory
Authorities" took place in Beirut (Lebanon). Under the Eastern
Partnership (EaP), a similar workshop took place for Eastern regulators in the
field of electronic communications in Vienna in October 2010. A first
informal network of regulators of the EaP was established, enabling the
development of further contacts with a view to providing expertise and sharing
of best practice in the field of telecoms regulation. In September 2010 the
"High-Performance Computing Infrastructure for South East Europe’s
Research Communities" (HP-SEE) project was launched, thereby complementing
the linking of the research and education communities around the Black Sea with
a computation infrastructure. This brings the Black Sea community to a level
similar to that of their European partners. The Black Sea Interconnection (BSI)
project was concluded in 2010 and HP-SEE is continuing and enhancing its
services. BSI has served as a role model for the Central Asian CAREN
initiative.

Partner countries made limited progress in
the audiovisual sector. While many Mediterranean partners still need to
set up agencies or strengthen their administrative capacities, media freedom
actually seems to be deteriorating in some Eastern partner countries, notably Ukraine.

Regarding research
and innovation, ENP partner countries were very interested in increasing
their participation in the 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7)
and strengthened their national contact points as well as their research
system. Countries that had paid particular attention to building a strong
national contact points network, such as Egypt, Morocco, Ukraine and Tunisia,
reaped the benefits in the form of increased success under the FP7. The participation of several countries (Algeria,
Armenia and Lebanon) remained below their potential.
In 2010, first negotiations started with the
Republic of Moldova on FP7 association. The Republic of Moldova adopted a
comprehensive action plan with a view to preparing its possible association
with the FP7. Israel, the only ENP
country already fully associated with the FP7, continued to perform at a high
level. A Science and Technology Agreement between the EU and Algeria is
currently in preparation. Egypt and Syria strengthened their
cooperation with the Enterprise Europe Network. Tunisia joined this
network and Morocco submitted an application to join it.

At regional/multilateral
level, a second call for proposals, ERA-WIDE, was issued for all ENP
countries in July 2010, with a deadline for submission of March 2011. The call
aims to develop the research strategy of research centres, and to increase
cooperation capacity and networking with EU Member States and FP7 associated
countries. Participation in ERA-WIDE should improve the quality of research
activities and/or promising research centres under all FP7 thematic priorities.
In January 2010, Egypt hosted the 'Euromed Innovation Marketplace' in
Cairo, in the framework of the Union for the Mediterranean,. This event
provided a platform for researchers, scientists, business people, inventors and
policy makers from Mediterranean and EU countries to meet, network and further
develop projects, business ideas and partnerships.

Eastern partner countries continued to play
an active part in the International S&T Cooperation Network for Eastern
European and Central Asian countries (FP7 IncoNet EECA project). The network
aims to support a bi-regional EU-EECA policy dialogue on science and technology
and to increase EECA participation in FP7. Some countries also played an active
part in the Black Sea ERA-NET project, which aims to contribute to the
coordination of national research programmes (from EU Member States and partner
countries) targeting the extended Black Sea region. A
first call for proposals was launched in 2010, which aims to promote
collaborative research for innovative solutions concerning sustainable
development and focusing on energy, climate change and environmental research.

6.
Human capital and public health

Education and training

Higher Education

Most ENP
partners adopted medium-term strategic approaches for higher education
development for the period up to 2015, including governance reforms and changes
to the legal and budgetary expenditure frameworks. As in 2009, the Bologna
Process continued to act as the main policy reference framework for higher
education reform in all partner countries[1].
ENP partners advanced on quality assurance and on the adaptation of higher
education provision to the three-cycle structure. Reference to and use of the
European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) increased for the purposes of academic
credit transfer, as well as mutual recognition of degrees. In conjunction with
the above, Bologna Process Diploma Supplements were introduced in Ukraine
and continued to be applied in Georgia, the Republic of Moldova
and Tunisia. Other ENP partners are encouraged to adopt the former or
similar national measures to provide greater transparency of higher education
qualifications. The introduction of quality assurance mechanisms, ensuring
equal and transparent access to higher education and the development of
university autonomy remain key policy goals. Strengthening partnerships with
enterprises and industry remains critical in order to ensure the relevance of
taught programmes and to enhance the employment prospects of higher education
graduates. In March, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia
participated in the second meeting of the Bologna Policy Forum in
Vienna, focusing on mobility issues and how best to promote “brain circulation”
through international cooperation. The Vienna Ministerial Conference also
officially launched the European Higher Education Area as envisaged under the
1999 Bologna Declaration.

A total of 89
students from ENP partner countries were awarded Erasmus Mundus Masters
Course scholarships under Action 1 of Erasmus Mundus in 2010, and two
doctoral candidates received fellowships to take part in Erasmus Mundus Joint
doctorates (Action 1). Since 2009, it has been possible for higher education
institutions from ENP and other third countries to be involved in Erasmus
Mundus Master Courses and Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorates as full partners form
the outset.  ENP universities and higher education institutions are encouraged
to use this opportunity to strengthen the link with their EU counterparts.

In addition,
student and academic mobility is forecasted to receive an additional boost in
the academic year 2010-11 under the Action 2 (Partnerships). Total realised
mobility flows between ENP partner countries and the EU came to 1 138 for
the academic year 2009-10 including 913 students and academics from ENP partner
countries.

Under Action 1,
it is now possible for higher education institutions from ENP and other third
countries to be involved in Erasmus Mundus Master Courses (EMMC) and Erasmus
Mundus Joint Doctorates (EMJD) as full partners from the outset. ENP
universities and higher education institutions are encouraged to use this
opportunity to strengthen links with their EU counterparts.

In 2010, 52
university graduates from ENP countries benefitted from master’s scholarships
to study at the College of Europe (Bruges and Natolin). In addition, 48
graduate students from ENP countries and the Russian Federation received
scholarships to follow a master’s degree in European Integration Studies in
European universities for the academic years 2010-11 and 2011-12 under a
special pilot project.

There was a
significant increase in participation from ENP partner countries in the Jean
Monnet Programme in 2010. For the first time ever, one Jean Monnet teaching
module each was selected from universities in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Egypt,
while one module and a conference were selected from the occupied
Palestinian territory. One new conference and teaching module was selected
in the Republic of Moldova and Morocco respectively, while
a conference and two new Chairs were selected in Ukraine. ENP partner
universities are encouraged to continue submitting high quality applications
under the Jean Monnet programme in order to improve understanding of European
integration and wider relations with the European Union, as well as to promote
academic research, teaching and free and open debate on issues of mutual
interest.

In the context
of the Eastern Partnership, Jean Monnet seminars were held in Ukraine
in October and in Brussels in December 2010. In the same context, an
exploratory round table to present the eTwinning programme for schools,
its cooperation opportunities and technical requirements took place in the
Republic of Moldova in October, to discuss the potential partial
opening of the programme to Eastern Partnership countries.

Tempus continued supporting higher education reform across all partner
countries by promoting voluntary convergence with developments in the EU. A
third Call for Proposals for Tempus IV was launched, eliciting a strong
response from all ENP partner countries with a particular interest in
multi-country and inter-regional projects (ENP and the Russian Federation)
under the broad themes of curricular and governance reform and higher education
and society. A total of 34 projects from ENP countries were selected under the
Call, with a further eight projects for the Russian Federation. Tempus issued
three policy-relevant publications in 2010: a review of university governance,
the state of play of the Bologna Process in all Tempus countries for 2009-10,
and a specific report on the same for the countries of the Southern
Mediterranean. In addition, overviews of the higher educations systems in the
different Tempus partner countries were published on the Tempus website
providing interesting insight of the national systems.  Furthermore, the
Commission took preparatory measures to facilitate Libya’s full
participation in the programme as from the fourth Call for Proposals (2011),
including the establishment of a National Tempus Office. The work of the Higher
Education Reform Experts (HERE) continued, including a specific regional
training seminar on quality assurance for the Southern Caucasus in Georgia
in November 2010. Two general experts meetings as part of the Bologna Process
training seminars were held, in Tallinn in June 2010, on recognition of studies
and in Cyprus, in November 2010, on the social dimension of higher education. 
Moreover, a regional seminar on university governance involving experts from
Eastern European countries (including Russia) took place in Kyiv in April 2010.

As in 2009, ENP
partners are encouraged to refer to the European Standards and Guidelines for
Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ESG) and, where applicable, to join the
European Quality Assurance Register (EQUAR). In pursuing the
internationalisation of higher education, greater attention should be paid to
the professional development of academic and administrative staff, as well as
to promoting the active involvement of students in decision-making processes,
particularly in the areas of mobility and changes to curricular content.

Vocational Education and Training

The reform of
vocational education and training (VET) made advances in most partner
countries, with the implementation of the initial phases of national reform
strategies, including adoption of changes to the legal framework and governance
structures. The direction of reform is predicated on the gradual introduction
of competence-based training standards in a lifelong learning
perspective, as well as cumulative investments in infrastructure, curricular
development and teacher training. Coordination between involved ministries,
state agencies and donors in all partner countries remains a critical factor
influencing the overall dynamics and quality of agreed reform initiatives.
Partner countries continue to face particular challenges in providing initial
and continuing training adapted to labour market and future skill needs.
Participative approaches and social dialogue on VET as well as vocational
training quality are equally important items on the reform agenda. The
development of entrepreneurial training and apprenticeships with industry
support is not yet fully embedded into reform-thinking in partner countries and
requires further investment. Equity and access to vocational education and
training, particularly for women and in rural areas, are also pressing
concerns.

As in 2009,
work continued apace on the design of agreed national qualification
frameworks aligned or modelled on the European Qualifications
Framework (EQF) with the support of the European Training Foundation (ETF). The
latter began implementing a regional qualifications project in the construction
and tourism sectors involving Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, while
continuing a cross-regional project on entrepreneurship as a key competence in
professionally oriented higher education, in line with the Euro Mediterranean
Enterprise Charter involving all ENP Mediterranean partners and pre-accession
countries. A regional conference on social partnership took place in this
context. Support was provided for the skills development basket of the
Mobility Partnerships with the Republic of Moldova. ETF completed
the dissemination of the MEDA ETE (Education and Training for Employment)
project in December providing practical examples and results of measures to
maximize youth employment in the areas of entrepreneurship and e-learning for
the information of decision- makers in all ENP Mediterranean partners and
Turkey.

In the context
of the work of the Eastern Partnership, the Black Sea Labour Market Reviews
were discussed at a regional conference on ‘Labour Markets and Employability of
Human Capital’ in Ukraine in October.  This regional report is based on country
studies of which the reports on Azerbaijan and Belaruswere
published in 2010.

The Torino
Process (a participatory review of progress in vocational education and
training policy in ENP partner countries, the Russian Federation, Western
Balkans, Turkey and Central Asia) completed its first year of evidence-based
policy work and analysis in cooperation with national Ministries and interested
stakeholders in thirteen partner countries. The draft national reports and the
parallel Business and Education Studies were discussed in national seminars
with ENP partners to corroborate their findings and identify future medium-term
policy priorities and challenges. Algeria did not yet confirm interest in
participating in the process.

Youth

All partner
countries continued to promote youth exchanges and informal education as a means of enhancing
understanding and intercultural dialogue, as well as ensuring better social
integration of young people. Medium term national youth strategies and
approaches were adopted in Egypt, Morocco and the occupied
Palestinian territory. As was the case in 2009, the formulation and
development of coherent national youth policies remained weak in all ENP
partner countries, with actions between concerned state agencies often being
uncoordinated. The integration of youth needs into wider reform plans in
health, social welfare, justice and employment remained a critical issue. The
full relevance and cost-effectiveness of investment in youth work in terms of
tackling drug addiction, addressing social exclusion and facilitating young
peoples’ integration into working life needs to be underlined.

Levels of
participation registered for actions under Youth in
Action increased in all partner countries compared
to 2009. The programme supports youth exchanges,
voluntary service and youth cooperation activities in non-formal education. All
ENP partners concerned confirmed their participation in the Euro
Mediterranean Youth IV programme, which was launched in 2010. It promotes
intercultural dialogue by stimulating and encouraging mutual comprehension
between young people in the Euro-Mediterranean region, combating stereotypes
and prejudices, and enhancing the sense of youth solidarity through the
promotion of active citizenship.

Culture

By the end of
2010, all partner countries except Israel, Lebanon and Morocco had
ratified the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of
the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Signature of the Convention is essential
for the further development of cultural cooperation, as it is now part of the
Union’s legal order.

In 2010, a specific programme for
strengthening regional capacities for cooperation in the cultural sector was
launched under the Eastern Partnership. The aim of the Eastern
Partnership Culture Programme is to support the role of
culture in the region's sustainable development and to promote capacity
building and regional cooperation between public and non-profit based civil
society organisations in the region and with the EU. In addition, Eastern
partners participated for the first time in an enlarged meeting of the National
Cultural Contact Points in March under the Culture Programme.

In order to
complement the Kyiv Initiative and to further enhance policy dialogue on
culture, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova
and Ukraine should expedite, where applicable, the signature and
ratification of the 2000 European Landscape Convention and the 2005 Council of
Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society.

In 2010, a
Special Action for ENP countries which have ratified the 2005 UNESCO Convention - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt,
Georgia, Jordan, the Republic of Moldova, occupied
Palestinian territory, Tunisia and Ukraine – was launched under Strand 1.3 (Cooperation Projects
with Third Countries) of the Culture Programme. A total of 170 applications
were submitted by cultural organisations from the eligible ENP countries.
Sixteen projects were selected involving 24 ENP partner organisations. The
themes covered cultural heritage; visual arts; performing arts; literature,
books and reading; architecture, design and the applied arts, multi-media and
new technologies and interdisciplinary activities.

In October
2010, the Commission published a report ‘Towards a Strategy for Culture in the
Mediterranean Region’. This serves as a basis for the elaboration of a Euro
Mediterranean Strategy for Culture, a process which was launched at
the 2008 culture ministerial. In the report, external experts made proposals on
how to design a future strategy sensitively and efficiently in areas such as
cultural policy, access to culture, regional collaboration and intercultural
dialogue.

Implementation of the twelve 2009 projects
under the Euro-Med Heritage IV programme began during the
reporting period. The projects include the preservation of written heritage, the promotion of intangible
cultural heritage, youth outreach and engagement in culture, and the management
of water heritage. The first Conference on Cultural Policies in the Arab region
took place in Lebanon in June 2010, providing an opportunity for
dialogue between ministries and cultural operators on how best to advance
cultural cooperation within wider socio-economic development.

The Anna Lindh
Euro-Mediterranean Foundation continued to implement the ‘Restore Trust,
Rebuild Bridges’ Initiative in cooperation with the Alliance of Civilizations,
as a means to promote conciliation, dialogue and confidence-building between
peoples in the Middle East. The Foundation also continued implementing a
special programme on Arab Children’s Literature[2]
as part of its triennial Action Plan. The first Anna Lindh Report on
Euro-Mediterranean Intercultural Trends and Mutual Perception was published in
April 2010, providing a scientific analysis of the status of intercultural
trends among the peoples of the region, with recommendations for policy makers,
civil society organisations and opinion leaders for the positive advancement of
exchanges in the region.

Public health

ENP
partners sustained health sector reform, generally on the basis of
existing strategies. In 2010 the occupied Palestinian territory adopted
a new health strategy covering 2011-2013. The Republic of Moldova adopted
a primary health care strategy for 2010-2013. The ongoing health sector
challenges of ENP partners are still communicable and non-communicable
diseases, the improvement of primary health care, greater efficiency in the
sector, financial sustainability and better access to health services, in
particular for the most vulnerable. In 2010 the European Commission, with
reference to last year’s Influenza A (H1N1) epidemic, proposed to additional
ENP partners to establish communication channels for the exchange of
epidemiological information in the event of public health emergencies of
international concern. In 2010, such channels were established with Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the occupied Palestinian territory and Ukraine.
The European Commission invited ENP countries to the high level EU global
health conference, which was held in June 2010 in Brussels.

The
EU continued, in its health dialogue with partners, to promote the
implementation of key international health agreements, namely the International
Health Regulations and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). In
June 2010, Tunisia ratified the FCTC. The fight against HIV/AIDS and
tuberculosis remained a challenge in the Eastern neighbourhood. Also in 2010,
the European Commission invited Belarus, the Republic of Moldova
and Ukraine to its HIV/AIDS Think Tank. In 2010, Georgia adopted
a strategic plan on combating HIV/AIDS covering the period 2011-2016.

The
EU and the Mediterranean ENP partners maintained cooperation in the EpiSouth
Network for Communicable Diseases Control in Southern Europe and the
Mediterranean. In 2010, the launch of the second phase of the EpiSouth project
was prepared. The EU, the ENP partners, the European Centre for Disease
Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO)
maintained their contacts on health policy issues, in particular through the
HIV/AIDS Think Tank and the EpiSouth project. In 2010, Israel started to
explore possibilities for enhanced interaction with ECDC. The ECDC
provided assistance to Syria in the context of an ongoing EU supported
health project.

7.
Cross-Border Cooperation

In the area of Cross-Border Cooperation
(CBC), thirteen of the planned fifteen programmes under the ENPI are being
implemented. After a slow start the programmes are gaining momentum. They have
launched their first (and in some cases their second) call for proposals and
finalised the selection of the projects. In addition to nearly EUR
1 billion of Community funding (from both Heading 4 and the European
Regional Development Fund), a number of Member States (Estonia, Finland and
Sweden) and the Russian Federation decided to co-fund the programmes with an
additional EUR 150 million. For the Russian Federation, the CBC is the main
financial instrument for cooperation with the EU.

Two CBC programmes (Spain-Morocco
and the CBC Atlantic Programme) were not submitted by the deadline of 30 June
2010. They were therefore cancelled and their funds
have been re-allocated. The contribution from the
European Regional Development Fund has to those programmes been returned to
Spain to support external cross border co-operation within the framework of the
cohesion policy. The Mid-Term Review of the ENPI CBC Strategy Paper was
conducted in 2010 and the new Indicative Programme 2011-13 is being finalised with a view to its adoption by the European
Commission in 2011.

8. Operational aspects

During 2010, TAIEX[3]
continued to provide valuable support in assisting the transition and reform
processes. ENP partners availed of its advice and technical assistance to
support convergence with European practices and standards across a wide range
of policies. The European Commission ensured that TAIEX events were consistent
with the country-specific sector policy dialogue. The table and charts in the
annex reflect the extent to which ENP partner countries used this instrument in
the period up to 31 December 2010. The European Commission also included them
in multi-country TAIEX events on topics of common interest.

ENP partners
continued to benefit from the twinning[4]
instrument under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument. In
2010 the long-term twinning of experienced EU Member State officials with their
peers in an ENP partner country continued to contribute to reforms and to the
transfer of EU regulatory and institutional experience.

By the end of
2010, 151 twinning covenants had been established or are being implemented,
whilst 128 covenants were still being prepared or were under negotiation with
12 ENP partner countries. These 279 twinning projects are broadly spread among
ENP partner countries and across a wide range of sector policies (see annex).

In 2010, SIGMA
continued to work with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Egypt, Jordan, the
Republic of Moldova, Morocco, Tunisia and Ukraine, while
extending its reach to Lebanon. It supports governance and public
administration reforms in areas such as administrative law and administrative
justice, public expenditure management, internal and external audit, public
procurement, civil service reform and regulatory management. As a joint
initiative of the OECD and the European Union, SIGMA assisted the national
reform teams of ENP partners by providing ‘peer practitioner’ expertise,
consisting of either OECD staff or public servants from within Member State administrations.
A total of 54 reform-support activities took place in 10 ENP countries up to
the end of 2010, principally in the areas of policy-making, public procurement,
financial control and public administration reform (see annex).

In June 2010, the CIUDAD programme[5] (Cooperation in Inter Urban
Development and Dialogue) commenced implementation of 21 intra- and
inter-regional (East-South) projects promoting cooperation between local and
regional authorities in capacity building for improved governance in sustainable
urban development and planning. The programme also sustains an extensive
network of over 170 partners and associates from 27 EU and ENPI countries, as
well as thematic groups on energy efficiency, solid waste management and
cultural heritage and sustainable tourism.

9. Neighbourhood Investment Facility

In 2010 the Neighbourhood Investment
Facility (NIF) completed its third year of operation. This is a financial
instrument providing grant support to lending operations by the EIB, the
EBRD, and other European finance institutions in support of projects in the
European Neighbourhood region.

The NIF was created to pursue three
objectives:

(1)
Establishing better energy and transport
infrastructure interconnections between the EU and neighbouring countries and
among neighbouring countries themselves;

(2)
Addressing threats to our common environment,
including climate change;

(3)
Promoting equitable socio-economic development
and job creation through support for small and medium-sized enterprises and the
social sector.

In order to accomplish these objectives the
NIF makes use of a broad range of measures, embracing co-financing
through direct grants, loan guarantees, interest rate subsidies, and technical
assistance for project preparation and supervision. In order to maintain
consistency with policy objectives, operations are evaluated according to a set
of Strategic Orientations and priority criteria. A revised set of Strategic
Orientations has been adopted for 2011-2013.

In 2010, € 110 million from the EU budget
were allocated as a grant contribution to the NIF, bringing the total EU budget
contribution to € 295 million in 2007-10[6].
This was supplemented by a Member State grant funding contribution to the ‘NIF
Trust Fund’, of approximately € 78 million (see Annex for an overview of the
Member State pledges).

In its third year of operations, 15
projects were approved (13 projects in 2009 and 15 in 2008). These projects
received a total financing of € 121,5 million from the NIF (an increase of 9,8%
when compared to € 110,7 million in 2009), and contributed to leverage loans
from European Finance Institutions amounting to € 2,54 billion.

By financing these large projects, the NIF
supports the reform priorities agreed with ENP partner countries and
contributes to the investment necessary to further integrate the EU and its
neighbours. The full list of projects approved in 2010 and an overview of the
distribution of NIF contributions per country, sector and objective are presented
in the Annex.

10. EU programmes and agencies

During 2010,
the European Commission made progress with the participation, under certain
conditions, of ENP partners in European Union programmes and agencies.
Participation serves to support the ENP partner countries’ efforts to
strengthen administrative and regulatory capacities in various policy fields.
ENP partners are eligible to participate or to cooperate in a wide range of
Union programmes[7].
In terms of participation in Union Programmes, negotiations to enable
participation were successfully concluded with the Republic of Moldova,
Morocco and Ukraine, leading to the signature of the Protocols in
September, October and November 2010 respectively. The Protocol that was
concluded with Israel in 2008[8]
to enable it to participate in Union programmes is still awaiting the consent
of the European Parliament before it can be formally concluded. To date, it
remains provisionally applicable.

With regard to
participation in the work of EU agencies, preliminary
technical cooperation on drug monitoring between EMCDDA (European
Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction) and ENP partners took place in
October. Technical cooperation arrangements on aviation safety continued
between EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) and Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Israel, the Republic of Moldova, Morocco and Ukraine.
Technical contacts also continued between ENP partners and EFSA
(European Food Safety Agency) and between some partners and ECDC
(European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control).Technical cooperation
arrangements with FRONTEX are in force with Georgia, the Republic of
Moldova and Ukraine, while they remain under discussion with Egypt
and Morocco. Formal contacts also exist between EUROJUST and Egypt,
Israel, the Republic of Moldova, Morocco and Ukraine,
while EUROPOL approved the start of negotiations on an operational
agreement with Israel in October.

Overview of Annexes

(1)
Governance related indicators for ENP partner
countries

(2)
Tables of international human rights’ conventions
binding ENP partner countries

(3)
Main macroeconomic indicators of ENP partner
countries

(4)
Tables on trade between the EU and the ENP
partner countries

(5)
Tables on committee and programmed amounts under
ENPI

(6)
Tables on mobility under Youth I n Action, Erasmus
Mundus, TEMPUS IV, scholarships in European Integration Studies, scholarships
College of Europe

(7)
Tables of TAIEX events with ENP partner
countries

(8)
Tables on SIGMA

(9)
Tables on twinning projects with ENP partner
countries

(10)
Neighbourhood Investment Facility projects

MACRO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Youth in Action mobility figures 2010

Youth in Action[9]

|| Youth Exchanges and Youth Workers Mobility || Voluntary Service

Country/Year || 2009 || 2010 || 2009 || 2010

Armenia || 351 || 334 || 67 || 67

Algeria || 91 || 55 || 0 || 1

Azerbaijan || 231 || 163 || 8 || 4

Belarus || 221 || 253 || 10 || 11

Georgia || 344 || 356 || 60 || 47

Egypt || 79 || 102 || 13 || 4

Israel || 183 || 220 || 10 || 7

Jordan || 94 || 61 || 4 || 2

Lebanon || 68 || 109 || 3 || 4

Republic of Moldova || 309 || 228 || 11 || 13

Morocco || 116 || 84 || 4 || 6

occupied Palestinian territory || 142 || 90 || 2 || 6

Syria || 10 || 24 || 0 || 0

Tunisia || 108 || 97 || 1 || 7

Ukraine || 641 || 707 || 86 || 105

|| || || ||

Overall Total per Action || 2988 || 2883 || 279 || 284

Mobility under

Erasmus Mundus, Action 2, 2010-2011

ENP Country || Total Mobility Flows for academic year 2010-2011\*

ARMENIA || 34

ALGERIA || 81

AZERBAIJAN || 33

BELARUS || 80

EGYPT || 102

GEORGIA || 59

ISRAEL || 65

JORDAN || 34

LEBANON || 27

REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA || 66

MOROCCO || 79

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY || 50

SYRIA || 26

TUNISIA || 77

UKRAINE || 100

GRAND TOTAL || 913

\*Figures based on
the projected mobility flows by 1 September 2011, subject to possible
adjustment upwards

Erasmus Mundus Action 1 – Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarships

|| Students || Scholars || Joint Doctorate Candidates

Country/Year || Academic year 2009- 2010 || Academic year 2010-2011 || Academic year 2009-2010 || Academic year 2010-2011\*

Algeria || 5 || 3 || 6 ||

Armenia || 13 || 6 || 1 ||

Azerbaijan || 3 || 1 || 2 ||

Belarus || 5 || 6 || 2 ||

Egypt || 7 || 8 || 2 ||

Georgia || 9 || 7 || 2 || 1

Israel || 8 || 6 || 13 || 1

Jordan || 1 || 1 || ||

Lebanon || 3 || 2 || 2 ||

Republic of Moldova || 10 || 6 || 1 ||

Morocco || 3 || 4 || 7 ||

occupied Palestinian territory || 2 || 2 || ||

Syria || || 1 || ||

Tunisia || 10 || 6 || 2 ||

Ukraine || 29 || 30 || 8 ||

|| || || ||

Overall Total || 124 || 89 || 48 ||

The 2010
selection of Erasmus Mundus Masters Courses scholars take place throughout the
academic year. Final figures per nationality for 2010 to 2011 will therefore
only be available following the submission of final reports

Tempus IV- number of projects per country accepted in 2010

Country || Total Projects || National Projects || Multi Country Projects || Joint Projects || Structural Measures || As Grant Holder

Algeria || 6 || 0 || 6 || 5 || 1 ||

Armenia || 4 || 1 || 3 || 2 || 2 ||

Azerbaijan || 2 || 1 || 1 || 2 || || 1

Belarus || 2 || || 2 || 2 || ||

Egypt || 4 || 2 || 2 || 4 || ||

Georgia || 5 || || 5 || 4 || 1 || 1

Israel || 2 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1

Jordan || 5 || 2 || 3 || 5 || || 1

Lebanon || 7 || 1 || 6 || 6 || 1 || 1

Republic of Moldova || 5 || 1 || 4 || 5 || ||

Morocco || 8 || 1 || 7 || 7 || 1 ||

occupied Palestinian territory || 3 || 1 || 2 || 3 || || 1

Syria || 4 || 2 || 2 || 3 || 1 ||

Tunisia || 7 || 1 || 6 || 5 || 2 ||

Ukraine || 5 || || 5 || 5 || ||

[1]               Only Ukraine, Moldova,
Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are formal signatories to the Bologna
Declaration. The Bologna Declaration of June 1999, signed by 29 European
Ministers of Higher Education, foresees the establishment of a European Higher
Education Area by 2010. The Bologna Process aims to put in motion the reforms
necessary for its creation, namely: the introduction of a three-cycle system
(bachelor/master/doctorate), quality assurance and mobility and recognition of
qualifications and periods of study. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Geogia, the Republic
of Moldova and Ukraine joined the Bologna Process at the Bergen Conference in
May 2005. Southern ENP partners adopted a declaration calling for the
establishment of a Euro-Mediterranean Higher Education Area at the First
Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Higher Education and Scientific
Research in Cairo in June 2007.

[2]               The “Arab
Children Literature Programme” is a regional programme launched in 2006 with
the support of Swedish Aid (SIDA) which seeks to strengthen the intellectual,
social and emotional development of children in the Arab region through
developing childrens’ literature and promoting reading for pleasure. It is
implemented in five focus countries Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian
territory and Syria.

[3]               TAIEX
provides short-term technical
assistance and advice on convergence with EU legislation, best practices and
standards and on related administrative capacity needs, technical training and
peer assistance, as well as a data base and information network that
facilitates the monitoring of approximation measures, see also :
http://taiex.ec.europa.eu

[4]               http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/index\_en.htm

[5]               http://www.ciudad-programme.eu

[6]               For
the 2007-2013 period, the European Commission has earmarked a total amount of €
700 million for the NIF

[7]               For a full list of these programmes, see “Other
relevant Commission Documents” at
http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/documents\_en.htm

[8]               Official
Journal L129 of 17/05/2008, pp 39-43

[9]               Provisional figures gathered at application level for
participants in projects submitted at decentralised level.

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