Closer to the EU: additional funding for Georgia and Moldova
European Commission
Press release
Brussels, 6 May 2014
Closer to the EU: additional funding for Georgia and Moldova
The European Commission has announced today a support package for Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, worth €60 million. This support package will help public institutions, citizens and the business community to seize the benefits and opportunities of the Association Agreements with the EU, including the possibility of access to the EU market.
Štefan Füle i, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy, stated: "Georgia and the Republic of Moldova are genuinely committed to a major shift in their relations with the European Union, based on shared fundamental values. The Association Agreements will make that shift possible, and will open the possibility of stronger trade ties with the European market. And our assistance will continue to accompany this process.”
Support to the Republic of Moldova (€30 million) targets competitiveness of small business, development of national legislation in line with EU quality standards and promotion of export and investment opportunities, communication and information campaigns on the trade agreement with the EU.
Support to Georgia (€30 million) is focused on modernisation of public institutions linked to the implementation of the Association Agreement, competitiveness of rural business and trade opportunities with the EU and protection of the rights of minorities and vulnerable groups.
Funding for this package is granted to Georgia and the Republic of Moldova through the 'more for more' mechanism of the new European Neighbourhood Instrument: the multi-country umbrella programme. This mechanism rewards progress in democratic reforms with supplementary financial allocations. Regular allocations under the Annual Action Programme 2014 will come later this year.
Background
The new European Neighbourhood Instrument 2014-2020 (which replaces the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument 2007-2013) reflects an incentive-based approach: the more a country is committed to and makes progress in reforms, the more assistance it can expect from the EU.
Multi-country umbrella programmes facilitate the implementation of the incentive-based approach by allocating supplementary funding to selected neighbours, in line with their progress in building deep and sustainable democracy ('more for more').
This rewarding mechanism builds on the past experience of the SPRING (Support for Partnership, Reforms and Inclusive Growth) and EaPIC (Eastern Partnership Cooperation and Integration) programmes funded in 2011-2013.
The Eastern Partnership countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
The funding
The Eastern Partnership component of the multi-country umbrella programme 2014 totals €100 million, allocated to three countries: Georgia (€30 million), the Republic of Moldova (€30 million) and Ukraine (€40 million).
The allocations for Georgia and the Republic of Moldova fund the first part of the assistance for the two countries in 2014. More comprehensive assistance packages (Annual Action Programmes) will follow in the coming months.
The allocation for Ukraine is part of the total budget of the special support package for Ukraine (€365 million, adopted on 29 April).
The multi-country umbrella programme allocations for Neighbourhood South partners will be adopted in the course of 2014.
For more information
Website of the Commissioner Stefan Füle:
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/fule/index_en.htm
Website of DG Development and Cooperation - EuropeAid (Eastern Partnership webpage):
www.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/easternpartnership
Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova:
http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/moldova/index_en.htm
Delegation of the European Union to Georgia:
http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/georgia/index_en.htm
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre:
http://www.enpi-info.eu/indexeast.php
Contacts :
Peter Stano (+32 2 295 74 84)
Anca Paduraru (+32 2 296 64 30)