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A Guide to the European Union
Relations with Third Countries
The European Union has concluded partnership and cooperation agreements with a large number of third countries both on a bilateral and on a regional basis. Bilateral agreements cover a wide variety of topics related to common European Community policies.
The PHARE programme is the world's largest grant assistance effort for central and eastern Europe. It is currently the main channel for the European Union's financial and technical cooperation with 13 partner countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina). Ten of them (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria) have applied for Membership of the European Union and have concluded Accession Partnerships with the EU. For these candidate countries, PHARE activities now concentrate on support for institution-building and investment in order to prepare them for EU membership. For the three non-candidate countries PHARE provides support in their transition to democracy and a market economy.
Under the TACIS programme the European Union provides grant assistance to twelve countries of the former Soviet Union, otherwise known as New Independent States (NIS), and Mongolia. The main objective of the programme is to help these countries in their transition to a market economy and to reinforce democracy. The programme plays a supporting role in the context of Partnership and Cooperation Agreements (PCAs) with the various NIS.
The MEDA programme is the principal financial instrument of the EU for the implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. This partnership was established by the Conference of Foreign Ministers held in Barcelona in November 1995 as a joint initiative by the EU and 27 partners on both sides of the Mediterranean, (i.e. Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority). The greater part of MEDA resources are channelled to 9 (all except Cyprus Malta and Israel) of the partner countries on a bilateral basis to support their economic transition (i.e. mainly to prepare for implementation of free trade) and to strengthen their socio-economic balance (i.e. alleviate short-term cost of economic transition through appropriate measures in the field of social policy). The remainder of the MEDA resources are devoted to regional activities.
Cooperation between the EU and Latin America is governed by a number of bilateral and regional agreements. The developing countries in the region may benefit from financial, technical and economic cooperation arrangements with specific resources earmarked for this purpose in the European Commission's budget.
The new international role acquired by Latin America in recent years calls for a stronger political dialogue with the region. The EU is looking to establish a new partnership with the region focusing on specific priorities in conjunction with a limited number of issues of mutual interest (e.g. economic reform, improved international competitiveness, poverty alleviation, social exclusion and consolidation of democratic processes).
The partnership between the EU and ASEAN dates back to the early 1970s and a continuous multifaceted dialogue has been conducted between the two regions ever since. The cooperation agreement concluded between the EU and ASEAN countries in 1980 to foster closer economic and trade relations sets out objectives for commercial, economic and development cooperation. Over recent years relations between the EU and a number of ASEAN countries have been further intensified. The European Commission's work programme for cooperation with ASEAN, at both country and regional levels, now focuses on practical ways of boosting business and trade ties between the two regions.
Many countries around the world that have concluded bilateral or regional cooperation agreements with the EU also benefit from instruments specifically designed to deliver development aid.
The EU and its Member States remain at the center of global efforts to promote aid and development in the "South" or "Third World". The EU is also a vital market for developing countries, absorbing more than 21 % of their exports. Virtually all developing countries enjoy special trade provisions of one kind or another. The EU's development policy gives priority to measures that encourage domestic reform on the basis of the four main principles set out in the EU Treaty, namely:
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developing and consolidating democracy
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economic and social development
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integration into the world economy
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the campaign against poverty.
The most important regional agreement on trade and development aid is the Lomé Convention concluded between the EU and its Member States on the one hand and 71 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (commonly known as ACP States). Development aid provided under the Lomé Convention is financed by the EU Member States' contributions to the European Development Fund. The fourth Lomé Convention expires in 2000 and negotiations are underway for a new-type EU-ACP partnership with a clearer focus on integrating the ACP States into the world economy. Moving into the direction of free trade thereby placing the ACP States in the WTO framework being one of the main EU objectives of the negotiations.
Other development aid instruments include humanitarian aid, food aid, generalised system of preference, project co-financing with non-governmental organisations and decentralised cooperation (e.g. assistance to local government and civil society).
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