Leo Litra became the co-author of the Non-Paper on post-2020 EaP Deliverables for the three EaP partners – Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
The PDF-version of the paper is available here.
The Non-Paper benefited from a series of policy dialogue exchanges, contributions and endorsements from a group of 37 EU, Georgian, Moldovan and Ukrainian researchers and think-tank experts and it is prepared for the attention of the European External Action Service (EEAS), European Commission (DG NEAR), Members of the European Parliament, Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the EU Member States, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
The Non-Paper outlines a set of key post-2020 EaP Deliverables, relevant in particular, to six priority objectives in the next 5 to 10 years:
1. Security: A Stronger, more Geopolitical Europe
2. Environmental and climate resilience: Green Deal for Eastern Partners
3. Accountable institutions, judicial reform and the rule of law
4. Resilient, fair and inclusive societies: A people-centric EaP
5. Resilient, sustainable and integrated economies
6. Resilient digital transformation
In general, the Non-Paper asks for a more ambitious and geopolitical outlook from the side of the EU and argues in favour of the three associated EaP states tighter integration into a wider array of EU security, environmental, political and economic initiatives as it befits their European aspirations and capacities. Equally, the Non-Paper recognises that better governance is the key and therefore points to the need for smarter, more tailored and more targeted forms of conditionality from the side of the EU to improve the chances of sustainable reforms in these societies.
Perhaps another valuable aspect of this paper is that it comes at a moment when the EU27 is launching, albeit in a modified format, its Conference on the Future of the EU. What the content and vision presented in this Non-Paper shows, above all, is that the interests and priorities of the three Associated EaP states are far closer to those of the EU, compared to the situation ten years ago. The Non-Paper is valuable not just as a roadmap for Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to strengthen their association with the EU, but it is also a relevant intervention into a wider discussion about the future of the EaP and how the EU should look in the next ten years.
