EC Council reaffirms commitment to Eastern Partnership

On the 23^rd of February on the Council meeting on general affairs and external relations ministers discussed preparations for the launch of the EU's Eastern Partnership, on the basis of input from the Presidency and the Commission.

Concerned URL	http://www.consilium.europa.eu/App/NewsRoom/loadDocument.aspx?id=221%E2%8C%A9=EN&directory=en/gena/&fileName=106331.pdf [open in new window]
Source of information	Delegation of European Commission to Ukraine
Release date	25/02/2009
Contributor	David Conway
Geographical coverage	EU, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
Keywords	Eastern Partnership, EU

The EU Council noted that there was a number of issues, such as visa liberalisation, the articulation between the Eastern Partnership and the Black Sea Synergy, the participation of Third countries and financing, which will require further discussion as part of the process of developing and implementing the Eastern Partnership.

The relevant Council bodies will now start working on preparations for the Spring European Council, which is expected to establish the Eastern Partnership.

The Eastern Partnership is a multinational forum formed by the EU member states and six eastern Europe and southern Caucasus states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. It is intended to facilitate the negotiation of free trade zones for services and agricultural products, partnership agreements and visa agreements. The Partnership pledges to support institution-building programmes and further assist in economic and social development, as well as in promoting mutual energy security.

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