EU Meets With Nearest Neighbors To Discuss Ties

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union meets with 16 neighboring countries on Monday to generate more momentum for a $16.5 billion program of economic and other aid in exchange for reforms, a strategy that has been a tough sell from the day it was launched in 2004.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner
The EU's European Neighborhood Program offers neighbors cash, expertise and easy access to EU markets in return for commitment to across-the-board reforms.

It has had a difficult start.

"It's essential we listen carefully to the aspirations of our neighbors," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said before Monday's first-ever meeting of foreign ministers and senior officials from the 27 EU and the 16 neighboring states.

The EU's "ring of friends" program is hobbled by the great variety of participants - from Israel to Ukraine to Libya - and by the EU's insistence they tackle issues such as migration, terrorism or human rights, and the EU public opinion's dim view of the state of democracy beyond the bloc's borders.

The 16 neighbors are Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine.

The most problematic ones - Libya, Belarus and Syria - will attend as observers, diplomats said. Russia will not participate, as the EU is pursuing a "strategic partnership" with its biggest eastern neighbor.

The participation of Libya follows the release, little more than a month ago, of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who had been accused of deliberately infecting Libyan children with the AIDS virus.

Their release was followed by the announcement of a French contract to supply Libya with anti-tank missiles, and another deal for the purchase of advanced communications systems was on the table at a reported total value of $405 million.

The EU's neighborhood outreach is little loved by some - notably Ukraine, which aspires to EU membership - and little appreciated in Western Europe.

Last week, the EU released the results of a public opinion survey showing 54 percent of EU nationals have little or no interest in neighboring countries, yet the vast majority of respondents found that cooperation in environment, energy, economic development, migration and the fights against organized crime and terrorism is important.

The neighborhood program was begun in 2004 to offer easy access to the vast EU market of almost 500 million consumers without the right to join the bloc.

While most neighbors have made progress in economic and political reforms, other areas remain problematic, including poverty, corruption, unemployment, mixed economic performance and weak governance.

To help spread stability beyond its borders, the EU has raised funding for 2007-2013 by 32 percent - to $16.5 billion, including 1 billion euros ($1.37 billion) to help trigger private lending for the most reform-minded neighbors - for more trade, increased cooperation in energy, migration and economic issues, greater financial support and more help to resolve regional conflicts.

A more "differentiated" approach, agreed in 2006, means "the EU offers every neighbor country the chance to choose its own path," says Ferrero-Waldner.

Officials said the conference will underline the EU's determination to develop tailor-made partnerships with neighbors and wants to hear where help is wanted most.

The EU offers help in resolving regional conflicts, shoring up weak frontiers, increasing free trade, helping neighbors raise product norms and standards to the EU level and cutting red tape.

It also provides assistance in energy, transport, the environment, rural development, research cooperation, public health, financial services and migration or maritime affairs.

Source: Kyiv Post