15 September 2015
The European Union announced a new package of EUR 92.5 million funding for Eastern Partnership members intended to support environment initiatives in Belarus, employment and business development in rural areas of Azerbaijan and regional cooperation in the Eastern Partnership.
The regional cooperation support package worth EUR 64.5 million aims at boosting regional cooperation in Eastern Partnership in the following fields:
- Neighbourhood Civil Society Facility Regional Actions 2015 (EUR 5 million) will further promote increased dialogue between civil society and national and local authorities in the partner countries via various activities, such as public consultations, country reports, comparative baseline studies and joint pilot projects. This programme will support civil society's role in promoting reforms and democratic changes in the Eastern Partnership countries.
- New Eastern Partnership Flagship Initiative on Sustainable Municipal Development (EUR 20 million) will invest in cleaner and greener urban environment. It will help local authorities with the development and implementation of their Sustainable Energy Action Plans, which aim at reducing CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020, mainly through energy efficiency measures.
- New Water Initiative of the EU (EUR 23.5 million) will help improve the management of water resources, especially of trans-boundary Rivers. Pilot river basin management plans will be developed and implemented, building on the improved policy framework and ensuring strong participation of local stakeholders.
- Border Assistance Mission between Moldova and Ukraine – EUBAM (EUR 16 million) will continue to receive support in 2015-2017 particularly to: further promote border and customs cooperation between both countries, monitoring activities on the Transnistrian segment of the border, monitoring of the implementation of Visa Liberalisation and of the DCFTA agreements, including facilitation of the external trade from Ukraine and Moldova.
New EU funding for EaP countries
New EU funding to boost regional cooperation in EaP region
