Eastern Partnership summit, Riga, 21-22/05/2015 - Agenda highlights
Agenda highlights
A the occasion of the fourth Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, EU leaders will meet representatives of the EaP partner countries to reconfirm the importance the EU attaches to its Eastern Partnership (EaP).
The summit will also be the occasion to demonstrate EU's determination to pursue closer, differentiated relations with its independent and sovereign EaP partners.
The summit will be chaired by the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk i who, together with the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker i, will represent the European Union.
The summit will be hosted by the Prime Minister of Latvia, Laimdota Straujuma i.
Differentiation and inclusivity
The summit should demonstrate that the EU continues to engage strongly with all six of our independent and sovereign partners, whatever their individual level of ambition in terms of relations with the EU.
Leaders will reaffirm the importance of the reform agenda and the EU's support towards its implementation.
Discussions will particularly focus on cooperation projects aiming at:
enforcing state building and rule of law and helping partner countries to strengthen institutions and their resilience to external challenges
developing market opportunities with a specific focus on the digital economy field
ensuring energy security and improving the interconnections
enhancing mobility and contacts between people
Conflict resolution in the region will also be high on the agenda of the summit. EU leaders will pursue all efforts aiming at de-escalation and a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine, and the peaceful settlement of other unresolved conflicts in the region.
Background
Background brief - Eastern Partnership summit, Riga, 21-22 May 2015
The Eastern Partnership - a policy that delivers (European Commission - fact sheet)
March 2015 European Council
EU leaders agreed on the objectives of the Eastern Partnership summit. The European Council repeated its commitment to the eastern partners and set as a priority to strengthen the democratic institutions to the east.
European Council conclusions, 19-20 March 2015
Third Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in 2013
Joint declaration of the Eastern Partnership summit, Vilnius, 28-29 November 2013
Signing ceremony at the third Eastern Partnership summit, Vilnius, 29 November 2013
See also
Additional information and communication material can be found on the European Commission and the EEAS websites. At the occasion of the Riga summit, specific leaflets were developed to illustrate stories, facts and figures of the partnership and the different flasghip initiatives.
The Eastern Partnership (European Commission, Neighbourhood - Enlargement)
The Eastern Partnership (EEAS)
Side events
The summit in Riga will be accompanied by a number of side events, demonstrating that the Eastern Partnership goes beyond intergovernmental relations to involve civil society, media, business and other stakeholders.
Infographic on Eastern Partnership events on the Latvian Presidency website
At the Eastern Partnership Business Forum in Riga, on 21 May 2015, the European Commission launched the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) Facility for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The facility will provide some €200 million worth of grants and is expected to unlock new investments worth at least €2 billion for the SMEs in the three DCFTA countries: Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.