€37.3 million to boost economic development and resilience in the Eastern Partnership

The EU is committed to delivering tangible results for citizens across the Eastern Partnership. The EU has continued to focus on the four priority areas identified in the Riga Summit held in May 2015: strengthening institutions and good governance; market opportunities; mobility and people-to-people; interconnections.

In this context, five new regional cooperation projects worth €37.3 million will support youth, SMEs, maritime safety and border management in the Eastern Neighbourhood:

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  EU4Youth (€20 million) will tackle youth employability, leadership and entrepreneurship through a variety of actions including capacity building, fellowships, support to policy dialogue as well as grants to organisations active in these areas.
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  Integrating SMEs from the EaP countries into domestic and global value chains (€6 million): the programme will help integrate SMEs from the partner countries into domestic and global value chains, facilitating their access to new markets and boosting economic development.
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  Maritime safety, security and maritime environmental protection in the Black and Caspian Sea Regions (€4 million): the programme will support partner countries' ongoing efforts to implement the relevant international legislation, align their regulatory framework to EU legislation, and improve their performance. As a result, the maritime environment will be better protected and maritime transport safer.
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  Introduction of an Automated Intelligent Video-Control System at Road Border Crossing Point Novaya Huta - Novi Yarylovychi at the Belarus-Ukraine Frontier (€0.8 million): the system will reduce the time needed to carry out customs and border guard formalities, and enhance the capacity of the countries to prevent and fight cross-border crimes.
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  ENI East Global Allocation 2016 (€6.5 million) will support the project cycle management in the Eastern Neighbourhood countries, including the preparation, monitoring and follow-up of programmes, as well as activities in the field of information and communication.

Background:

Regional cooperation in the Eastern Neighbourhood complements national assistance programmes by funding actions addressing common regional challenges, and encourages intra-regional cooperation dialogue and knowledge sharing.

This new assistance package reflects the priorities agreed upon with the Neighbourhood East partner countries at the Riga summit, as well as the provisions of the reviewed European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Following the ENP review, even greater emphasis has been put on addressing economic development, security cooperation and investing in youth.

MEMO/16/3113