The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint policy initiative which aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union (EU), its Member States and its six Eastern neighbours: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus1, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The EU’s relations with its neighbours are guided by its Global Strategy and the revised European Neighbourhood Policy, which call on the need to focus on increasing the stabilisation and resilience of the EU’s Eastern neighbours.
The EU4Digital Initiative contributes to achieving the Eastern Partnership (EaP) objective of a resilient digital transformation, which consists of four distinct policy pillars:
- Digital Infrastructure: focuses on closing the internet access ‘gap’ with a ‘Top Ten Target’ of 80% of EaP households having affordable access to high-speed internet.
- eGovernance: invests in access to public services online and mutually recognised digital signatures, and focuses on digital transport corridors to improve document and information flows across borders.
- Digital economy and innovation: addresses cross-border eCommerce, digitally empowering one million EaP citizens through digital education, and investing in digital innovation.
- Cyber resilience – Cybersecurity: focuses on putting in place institutional, policy and legislative cybersecurity frameworks and on introducing methodologies and standards in order to secure and facilitate exchanges of data.
The renewed EaP policy agenda was confirmed at the 2021 EaP Summit by EU and EaP country representatives and in a joint declaration, has five main objectives which focus on recovery, resilience and reform, namely:
- Together for resilient, sustainable and integrated economies
- Together for accountable institutions, the rule of law, and security
- Together towards environmental and climate resilience
- Together for a resilient digital transformation
- Together for resilient, fair and inclusive societies
Within this framework, there is a joint commitment to deliver tangible results for citizens across the region. This set of long-term policy objectives for the Eastern Partnership beyond 2020 builds on the previous agenda and achievement of 20 deliverables for 2020. The new objectives were proposed in March 2020, following consultation with relevant partners and stakeholders, in the Joint Communication on ‘Reinforcing Resilience – an Eastern Partnership that delivers for all’.
Then the July 2021 Joint Staff Working Document on ‘Recovery resilience and reform: post 2020 priorities’ built around these objectives, identifying actions to address priorities and make a difference for people and businesses in the Eastern partner countries.
Top ten targets for 2025 in this new agenda include:
- Investing in competitive and innovative economies
- Investing in people and knowledge societies
- Investing in security and cyber resilience
- Investing in digital transformation
- Investing in inclusive, gender equal and diverse societies, and strategic communication
- Investing in health resilience
The new agenda and long-term objectives are supported by a €2.3 billion economic and investment plan, with the potential to mobilise up to €17 billion in further public and private investments.
[1] Belarus officially suspended its participation in the Eastern Partnership in July 2021.
