Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-03-12-Speech-4-012"
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"en.20090312.4.4-012"2
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"The Eastern Partnership, as a logical and essential new priority resulting from the expansion towards the east, is perhaps the most ambitious foreign policy initiative of a reunified Europe. It is a good step, but it will make sense and be successful only if there is real political will behind its implementation. It is therefore not enough simply to stick a new label on our existing neighbourhood policy; we have to set our sights far beyond the existing policies and formulate much higher aspirations.
The first task is undoubtedly to convert the existing cooperation agreements into association agreements. Part of that process also entails setting up a permanent institutional organisation, but that is not the most important part. Meetings of Heads of State or Government and ministerial meetings are obviously essential, but they succeed only if real advances are made in the domain of the two fundamental pillars. The goal is to establish a free trade zone with free trade agreements and gradually to abolish visa requirements. We know that both of these seem distant goals at the moment. The countries concerned are not yet ready for this, and the Eastern Partnership has to help these countries fulfil these conditions as soon as possible, since this is to everyone’s mutual benefit. The gas crisis in the past months has demonstrated how vulnerable Europe is in terms of energy. Therefore, an especially vital part of the agreements is energy cooperation, which may involve transit countries like Belarus and Ukraine or exporting countries such as Azerbaijan. Consequently, we consider this of extreme importance.
I would like to emphasize that this cooperation must also convey values. The Eastern Partnership will be a success when the values of democracy, the rule of law, human rights and minority rights are constantly kept in the forefront, lending a helping hand to partners in their steps forward but also making them accountable in these areas. The Eastern Partnership must also be open to Belarus, but only once the conditions have been fulfilled. It must be made clear that distancing themselves from Russia does not in itself mean getting closer to Europe. Indeed, they have a lot to do in guaranteeing human rights and democracy before the road to cooperation opens up for them as well. The Eastern Partnership has obvious budgetary consequences: EUR 350 million have been appropriated for the next few years – and even this will probably not be enough. The task of Parliament is to furnish the necessary financial backing, and thus we must recognise that within the Eastern Partnership the most crucial motivating factor for the partners is their European aspiration. Thank you."@en1
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