The EU established its privileged partnership with the Eastern and Southern shores of the Mediterranean back in 1995 with the launch of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership at the Barcelona Conference, with the goal of creating an area of peace, stability, economic prosperity, upholding democratic values and human rights. The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was launched in 2004 to strengthen prosperity, stability and security for all. In 2015 the ENP was reviewed to set out stabilisation as the main policy goal. Article 8 of the TEU states that the EU shall develop a special relationship with neighbouring countries, aiming at establishing an area of prosperity and good neighbourliness, founded on the values of the Union and characterised by close and peaceful relations based on cooperation. 25 years after the Barcelona Declaration, a strengthened Euro-Mediterranean partnership remains a strategic imperative for the EU. The Joint Communication on a renewed partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood adopted on 9 February 2021 falls within the 2015 reviewed ENP and proposes an ambitious and innovative Agenda for the Mediterranean, drawing on the ground-breaking opportunities of the twin green and digital transitions in order to relaunch cooperation and realise the untapped potential of our shared region. The Agenda was endorsed by Council Conclusions in April 2021.

The Agenda focuses on people, especially women and youth, to help them meet their hopes for the future, enjoy their rights and build a peaceful, secure, more democratic, greener, prosperous and inclusive Southern Neighbourhood.

The Agenda focuses on five policy areas:

• Human development, good governance and the rule of law
• Resilience, prosperity and digital transition
• Peace and security
• Migration and mobility
• Green transition: climate resilience, energy, and environment:

The Agenda guides the EU’s bilateral, regional, and cross-regional cooperation under the EU’s Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI).

A dedicated Economic Investment Plan for the Southern Neighbours, part of the Agenda, aims at ensuring that the quality of life for people in the region improves and the economic recovery leaves no one behind. The plan includes flagship initiatives to strengthen resilience, build prosperity and increase trade and investment to support competitiveness and inclusive growth.

Since 2019, annual Ministerial Meetings bringing together Foreign Ministers were convened and chaired by the High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell. The 2021 Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting (29 November 2021 in Barcelona) focused on addressing climate change by accelerating the green economic transition. The 2022 EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting (24 November 2022 in Barcelona) focused on the consequences of the Russian aggression on Ukraine on food and energy security as well as the link with green transition in the Southern Neighbourhood. In 2023, there was no meeting due to the war in Gaza/Israel.

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¹ Staff Working Document SWD(2021)23 final

The EU supports the ENP objectives through political dialogue and a number of other tools, including financial support and technical cooperation. Association Agendas, Partnership Priorities and equivalents are the basis for setting priorities for assistance by establishing political and economic reform agendas with short- and medium-term priorities. Agreed jointly, they reflect the needs, interests and capacities of the EU and each partner. The Association Agendas and Partnership Priorities build on existing legal agreements with the EU – Association Agreements (AAs) or Partnership & Cooperation Agreements (PCAs).

Additional tools have been developed under the ENP to advance market access, in particular through the negotiation of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTAs).

Country-by-country developments are addressed in country-specific reports, which are released by the European External Action Service and the European Commission ahead of Association Council meetings or other similar high-level events.

Bilateral relations

There are sixteen ENP partners: Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Republic of Moldova, Morocco, Syria, Palestine^[1], Tunisia, Ukraine.

Multilateral relations

ENP regional and multilateral cooperation initiatives include:

• Eastern Partnership
• Renewed Partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood. New Agenda for the Mediterranean
• Union for the Mediterranean
• Black Sea Synergy
• Northern Dimension
• EU Artic Policy
• Cross Border Cooperation (CBC)

Building on the revised ENP, the cooperation with the East and with the South has been further strengthened:

On 18 March 2020, the Joint EEAS and European Commission Communication on the Eastern Partnership policy beyond 2020 – Reinforcing Resilience – an Eastern Partnership that delivers for all defined the long-term policy objectives for future cooperation, under the overarching goal of strengthening resilience. For more information see here.

On 2 July, 2021, the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy outlined a proposal on how to take forward priorities for cooperation with Eastern partners for years to come, underpinned by an Economic and Investment Plan. The comprehensive agenda aims at increasing trade, growth and jobs, investing in connectivity, strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law, supporting the green and digital transitions, and promoting fair, gender-equal and inclusive societies.

On 9 February 2021, the Joint EEAS and European Commission Communication on the Renewed Partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood: A new Agenda for the Mediterranean was adopted. The initiative is backed by an EU “Economic and Investment Plan for our Southern Neighbours” aimed at unleashing the untapped economic potential of the region.

[1] This designation shall not be construed as recognition of a State of Palestine and is without prejudice to the individual positions of the Member States on this issue.

The EU has a large and diversified security-related cooperation with the ENP partners. It goes from counter-terrorism and prevention of radical extremism, fight against organised crime to conflict prevention, crisis management and security sector reform.

Progress in the security sector reform is a shared objective with several ENP partners, to which the EU provides advice and financial support to achieve institutional and legislative reforms.

Cooperation in counter-terrorism and countering radical extremism, particularly with the Southern partners is on-going and there is a shared ambition and willingness to deepen its scope.

The EU has been active in supporting the international negotiation frameworks for conflict resolution (e.g. Libya, Syria, Ukraine) and confidence-building measures. Increased attention starts to be paid to recent threats like cyber and hybrid threats, as well as addressing climate change impact on security. For more information, see here.

Migration is a global phenomenon that affects both shores of the Mediterranean. Cooperation with the Southern Mediterranean countries in the field of migration is key in order to address our shared challenges and to seize the relevant opportunities. Existing cooperation frameworks and dialogues set up at bilateral and regional levels, such as Mobility Partnerships, the Valletta Joint Action Plan and the Rabat and Khartoum processes, provide a useful guide to address the challenges of forced displacement and irregular migration and harness the opportunities of legal migration and mobility.

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is the EU’s overall policy framework for dialogue and cooperation on migration with third countries, provides a reinforced basis for a sustainable, joint and long-term migration and asylum management. The New Pact foresees fostering strengthened tailor-made, comprehensive and mutually beneficial partnerships, presenting a renewed opportunity to shape a joint response based on co-ownership, a balanced assessment of respective interests and needs, solidarity and shared responsibility. These partnerships will not only encompass the entire spectrum of our cooperation on migration and asylum, but at the same time will be embedded in the different strands of our cooperation – political, security and economic.

The EU will use all the tools at its disposal, including EU Agencies and the NDICI- Global Europe, to bring operational and financial support in the area of migration and mobility. Cooperation at regional and multilateral level will be further explored, including through triangular and South-South cooperation. Trilateral cooperation with the UN as well as with regional actors, including by building on the successful experience of the AU-EU-UN Task Force in Libya, will be further enhanced.

Addressing migration challenges is a joint priority also within the Eastern Partnership framework. The EU is working with the partner countries to ensure mobility and people-to-people contacts in a secure and well-managed environment, as well as to ensure support to vulnerable migrants and refugees. In this regard, the successful implementation of existing agreements on visa facilitation and readmission, as well as the continuous fulfilment of relevant visa liberalisation benchmarks, are essential. To help people move goods across borders, technical and administrative cooperation in integrated border management is being strengthened.

The possibility to launch new visa liberalisation dialogues with the countries, whose citizens still require visas to travel to the EU will be considered. Labour migration initiatives will also be considered. The aim is to foster legal migration and mobility, enhancing cooperation and cross fertilisation of skills and competencies while taking account of the impact of brain drain on partner countries.

The EU’s economic, investment and trade relations with its neighbours are mutually beneficial for both sides.

One of the objectives of the reviewed ENP is to contribute to stability in the neighbouring countries through economic development. Open markets, sustainable growth, inclusive economic development, and in particular prospects for the young people are key to stabilising societies in the neighbourhood.

Neighbourhood countries continue to indicate a growing need for international financial and economic support to underpin necessary transition and stability, even more so, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of the strategic vulnerabilities exposed by the pandemic, it is crucial for the EU to further develop and secure ties with these countries to enhance their economic and political resilience.

Trade

More trade, means more economic growth. In its trade relations, the EU promotes a sustainable growth model as defined by the European Green Deal and the European Digital Strategy, which can help the recovery from the COVID-19 economic crisis.

Countries with open economies tend to grow faster than those that trade less. Stability and prosperity of the EU's neighbouring countries is crucial and the EU supports a stronger economic integration with the Eastern Partnership, in particular DCFTA partners, as well as with the Southern neighbourhood.

Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine have chosen the path of political association and economic integration with the EU through Association Agreements/Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (AA/DCFTA). The EU works with these partners to  develop their relations further and to maximise the benefits for both parties to those agreements.

Relations between the European Union and Armenia are based on the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

In the Southern neighbourhood, upgrading relations and economic integration is a strategic necessity for long-term stability.

Trade also means more jobs and less poverty and inequalities – both in the EU and our neighbourhood. The EU benefits from geographical proximity, cultural and linguistic ties with the Southern neighbourhood countries that facilitate this strategic economic and commercial integration. Trade and investment are essential to unlock the region’s potential.

Taking advantage of opportunities at the sub-regional, regional and continental levels can also contribute to economic diversification and deepen integration.

Investment

The Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 envisages a significant support for investment through the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI)-Global Europe. Under this instrument, the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) is established as an integrated financial package supplying financial capacity in the form of grants, technical assistance, financial instruments, budgetary guarantees and blending operations – to support investments and increase access to financing.

This innovative financial architecture will allow crowding in private sector investment, in cooperation with the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and EU Member State development banks, while following the “policy first” principle.

European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI): ENI was the main financial instrument for implementing the ENP during the 2014-2020 programming period. ENI supported the neighbourhood region with a financial envelope of EUR 15.4 billion.

Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – Global Europe: In the 2021-2027 period, assistance to the partner countries in the neighbourhood will be financed through NDICI – Global Europe. With a total financial envelope of EUR 79 462 billion the new instrument is based on a ‘policy first’ principle. It will streamline EU external action by merging most of the existing external financing instruments and the European Development Fund into one single tool. NDICI-Global Europe preserves the key features of the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) in relation to enhanced political cooperation with the ENP partner countries. In total, the EU’s neighbourhood area is granted a dedicated financial envelope of at least EUR 19 323 million for the period 2021-2027.

The neighbourhood region will have access to the NDICI emerging challenges and priorities ‘cushion’. This will allow the EU to react in a flexible and rapid way to emergency situations, as well as to unexpected security or migratory situations in the region by directing financial assistance where and when most needed.

The “Umbrella” programme supports our partners in their democratic transitions, based on an “incentive-based” approach, which rewards progress in the area of democratic reforms and human rights with financial support.

More than EUR 1 billion has been provided since 2014 to several ENP partner countries.

NDICI will continue to support the programme during the 2021-2027 programming period, based on progress achieved in a wider area of reforms that serve the democratic purpose.

Participation in EU programmes and sectoral cooperation

Under the ENP, the EU works together with its partners to develop democratic, socially equitable and inclusive societies. It offers partners economic integration, improved circulation of people across borders, financial assistance and technical cooperation toward approximation with EU standards.

Cooperation between the EU and its neighbours covers a wide range of sectors – from environment to culture, from agriculture to statistics, customs, competition – and far beyond. The objective is to help improve the quality of life of the citizens in the EU and in our neighbourhood.

ENP countries have the possibility to participate in EU programmes and activities of a large number of EU agencies according to different modalities.

Better communicating and promoting EU policies are at the heart of the revised ENP. Improved public diplomacy contributes to better explaining the rationale of EU policies and the positive impact of the EU actions. The EU will keep seeking to ensure greater visibility for the use of EU funds for the neighbourhood.

It is a key objective for the EU to engage more on public diplomacy with governments, civil society, the business community, academia and other citizens in partner countries, in particular youth, including through science and cultural diplomacy.