2011 ENP progress reports

On May 25, 2011 The European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs issued progress reports on implementation of ENP in five EaP states in 2010. There is no report on Belarus, which does not have an Action Plan, nor any contractual relationship established with the EU. Each report recaps progress in a range of areas, paying most attention to democratization, justice and security matters, market and trade-related issues, social economy and human rights. The Commission evaluated individual EaP states based on their earlier progress, as well as political and economic circumstances. Ukraine was more openly criticized than Armenia and Azerbaijan because of greater expectations. Moldova and Georgia were evaluated with a great note of commendation thanks to their advancement on political dialogue between the EaP states and the EU. Overall, the Commission assessed Moldova achieved the greatest progress, Georgia and Ukraine accomplished relative advancement, while Armenia and Azebaijan attained some progress, which in fact stands for no significant improvement.

Moldova

Moldova was repeatedly commended for its close cooperation on implementing the EU standards. Moldova ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and visibly modernized the custom services in line with EU standards. Moldova progressed in the majority of the Action Plan for 2010, besides unresolved issue of presidential elections, as well as inadequate efforts to ‘fight corruption, to reform the judiciary, prosecution and police and to implement certain human rights commitments’. Particularly many amendments and mandatory training concerned the judiciary. The execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights was evalueted as improved. As for Cooperation and Foreign Security Policy (CFSP) Moldova aligned with 38 out of 44 requirements, which is the highest result among all EaP states. The EU also welcomed Chisinau’s productive involvement in the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) . Additionally, EUBAM office was opened in Chisinau in 2010.

Ukraine

Regarding Ukraine, the Commission’s main message is that in 2010 and earlier years Ukraine established enough successful frameworks for various reforms to be able to advance with bringing the country closer to the EU standards. However, the Commission claims that the  government is not sufficiently committed to taking further steps in implementing the reforms. For instance, the adoption of the Gas Reform Law is considered one of the biggest achievements, yet its success will be based on further implementation and monitoring.

The Commission reports corruption, non-transparent tax and customs regulations, and the lack of independent judiciary as obstacles to achieving favourable business and investment climate. The EU Commission is even more concerned about violations of fundamental democratic freedoms in Ukraine, such as freedom of assembly and free media. The EU’s main agenda in Ukraine concerns a comprehensive judiciary reform, curbing the corruption and the legal framework and improved administration of the electoral process.

Georgia

According to the report on Georgia, the country has made good progress in reforming the judicial system, constitutional reform, modernizing elections systems, strengthening of women’s rights, in the area of the regional development as well as business and trade. However, Georgia was criticised for failing to secure political and media pluralism. The Commission suggests Georgia should pay attention particularly to integration of ethnic minorities and curbing the corruption among high-ranked officials. In addition, many areas of social life, such as combating the poverty, increasing the employment, labour rights and freedom of association require greater efforts.

Armenia

Armenia overall made some progress in overcoming political crisis through dialogue and reforms. Some progress was achieved regarding the court system transparency, as well as in the area of border management. The EU Commission notes however that more should be done on respecting human rights, media pluralism, independence of the Judiciary, and on trade-related reforms.

Azerbaijan

On a good note, Azerbaijan got credit for strengthening its relations with the EU as well as for making general progress in negotiations on association agreement. Its overall advancements regarded mainly the ‘macro-economic stability and efforts to address poverty and attain socio-economic equilibrium’. Particularly successful was combating organised crime, terrorism and illicit trafficking. In terms of democracy and human rights, while there are new advancements in gender equality, Azerbaijan underachieves on freedom of expression and media pluralism. Lack of the government’s commitment, level of corruption and lack of transparency generally block most of the recommended reforms. 

EaP Community