Science                    Culture                    Cooperation                    Library                    Multimedia RU

Main - - Cooperation - Foreign policy of the European Union towards neighboring countries (2003-2010) Aims of Politics of Neighborhood   The proposed procedure of the policy reminded the instruments used by the EU in the framework of the association, but without the prospect of entering. In fact, the EU has pursued a policy consisting of technical and administrative security of future EU eastern border, on the one hand, and the intensification of cross-border cooperation, for example, in the Euro-regions, on the other hand. Many researchers emphasized that the document is fairly vague, but at the same time, coherent,. Although it does not tell about specific ways to implement this policy, but it assumes a differentiated approach to the neighboring countries, development of national action plans and identification of criteria, which the progress in any sphere of transformations must achieve. Action Plan – a political document, which was supposed to combine the past and the future work in all areas of relationships between the EU and neighboring countries in order to establish clear policy objectives and criteria, by which progress will be measured in subsequent years. The criteria must be accurate and accordingly supplemented with detailed plans of cooperation in specific sectors. The criteria are more important for the partner country, because it involves a large predictability and confidence than the traditional principle of “conditionality”. Criteria were developed to the possible extent, in close cooperation with the partner country to ensure the perception of these criteria as their own country ones and, accordingly, strive for their implementation. Action Plans were to replace the general strategy and become the most important political document in the EU mid-term relations with neighboring countries. In the document the EC pointed out the dependence of the success of internal reforms and provision of additional opportunities for financial assistance from the EU. It was recognized, that cooperation should not be limited to border regions, and the need to develop new initiatives for regional cooperation in its relations with Western NIS was pointed. That was indicated that the “Northern Dimension” is the only regional framework in which the EU considers in- and cross-border issues with its eastern partners, but participation is limited only by Russia. EU offers the possibility of regional cooperation involving all the Western NIS, based on the concept of “Northern Dimension” to develop a broad and inclusive approach on the neighborhood policy, but at the present moment this approach has not found any clear design.   See also: Cooperation between EU and the Republic of Belarus trough the Visions of Neighborhood Policy   Site Search: check any of the words check every word © National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 2011