2011: A Crucial Year for the Eastern Partnership?

2011 could be a crucial year for the Eastern Partnership. The EaP, initially a Polish-Swedish proposal aimed at completing the European Union’s foreign policy towards Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus by developing a specific Eastern dimension (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) of the European Neighbourhood policy, has never really been in the limelight ever since it was launched under the Czech presidency in May 2008. But this could change under the 2011 Hungarian and Polish presidencies. The Hungarians will host an EaP summit on 26 May and the Poles are committed to bring the EaP back under the attention of (especially) the western member states. No easy task probably as it is the Mediterranean countries which are currently monopolising everybody’s attention. A major issue will be the EaP’s funding which will reach €785 million in 2013 but is considered a mere drop in the ocean by many. The Polish presidency will have to negotiate the EaP’s funding as part of the EU’s multi-annual financial perspective for 2014-2020. Much has already been said about the alleged lack of effectiveness and transparency of the distribution of finance. How effective can the EaP be? What has to change? How important is the involvement of the civil society in the EaP member state and the role of the EaP Civil Society Forum? How can the EU support civil society in the EaP countries?

Speakers:
- Tamar Khidasheli,Chairperson of Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association
- Oleksandr Suschko, Research Director for the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation and Director of The Center for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine
- Igor Kohut, Chairman of the Board of the Ukraine Agency for Legislative Initiatives; Director of the Ukrainian School of  Political Studies, and Coordinator Ukrainan National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum
 
Discussant
Maciej Stadejek, Policy OfficerEuropean External Action Service (EEAS) Department for Russia, Eastern Neighbourhood&Western Balkans
 
Special guests
- Agnieszka Lada, Head of European  Programme/Analyst, Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw andVisiting Fellow European Policy Centre, Brussels
- Ulad Vialichka, International Consortium EUROBELARUS; Belarus

Moderator
Claude Weinber, director Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union