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EU Neighbourhood Info Centre An ENPI project Talking about the Neighbourhood

EU and Council of Europe combine strengths to help eastern neighbours consolidate reforms The European Union has already for some time been supporting political and democratic transformation in its eastern neighbourhood through the unique expertise of the Council of Europe (CoE). The latest example is the Eastern Partnership Facility, an instrument that helps partner countries to bring their legislation and practice in a range of fields closer to Council of Europe and EU standards, says Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, in an exclusive interview with the EU Neighbourhood Info Centre. Interview with Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni Why did the EU and the CoE join forces over promoting democracy in the European neighbourhood? The European Union and the Council of Europe are built upon and share common values – human rights, rule of law and democracy. Some of the EU’s closest neighbours – the countries of the South Caucasus, Moldova and Ukraine – joined the CoE over a decade ago; the Israeli Parliament enjoys Observer status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE (PACE). The Parliament of Morocco and the Palestinian National Council benefit from the “Partner for Democracy” status with the PACE since 2011. We all want these two neighbouring regions – the South and the East – to enjoy stability and prosperity, which would in turn strengthen stability of Europe. The best way to contribute to this cause is to promote democratic security, by fostering respect for our shared values. It was only natural for the EU and the CoE to join forces in this endeavour, so as to send a common strong message to the partner countries and to maximise our impact, ensuring complementarity. The EU has been able to accompany the processes of democratic reform in countries like Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine through the unique expertise of the CoE. Drawing on this fruitful experience, in the aftermath of the ‘Arab Spring’, we jointly offered our assistance to the South Mediterranean countries that had engaged in ambitious reform processes.

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What are you trying to achieve through this joint effort? We seek to accompany the processes of transition to democracy or support the consolidation of democracy, depending on the progress achieved by the country concerned. We do it by making available the expertise and some relevant tools of the CoE. The relevance of these tools has been demonstrated by the fact that they have contributed to democratic changes in other member states of the CoE. Some of them have since joined the EU, others are well on the way of doing so. On which areas does EU-CoE cooperation focus in the neighbourhood region? It covers many fields. In each country, the focus depends on the specific developments and on the assessment of the situation made by the CoE monitoring bodies. Our cooperation with the EU has been steadily increasing. Budget-wise, it amounts to more than €20 million per year. Over the last decade, the em-

Interview with Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni

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EU Neighbourhood Info Centre - An ENPI project

“The European Union and the Council of Europe are built upon and share common values – human rights, rule of law and democracy.”

“All our endeavours should ultimately benefit the people in partner countries.”

phasis of EU-Council of Europe cooperation has been on improving the independence and efficiency of the judiciary, fighting corruption and organised crime, promoting good governance, diversity, tolerance and intercultural dialogue. Our joint programmes are designed to address challenges, which go beyond borders, such as trafficking in human beings, counterfeit of medical products or cybercrime. The involvement of all countries of the region remains a condition for success to combat these global threats. What is the expected impact on citizens of the ‘Council of Europe Facility for the Eastern Partnership’ project? All our endeavours should ultimately benefit the people in partner countries. For example, we help make the judicial system more efficient and transparent, which is key to ensuring access to the judiciary of all categories of the population and to improving the mechanisms protecting citizens’ rights. Take another example: our projects aim to improve the electoral system by increasing its accessibility and efficiency. This in turn helps to ensure that citizens are involved in the electoral process and that the widest scope of political and civil society opinions is taken on board. In the same way, we support and promote anti-corruption policies for the benefit of the people, namely to bolster their rights vis-à-vis the administration and law enforcement agencies.

What do you consider as your most important achievements in the East so far? The Eastern Partnership Facility activities have helped consolidate reforms in the field of elections, judiciary, the fight against corruption and cybercrime, bringing the legislations and practice closer to Council of Europe and EU standards. They have also helped to strengthen the countries’ institutional capacities, and to promote the exchange of best practice, in order to improve electoral standards. Let me give you concrete examples of actions in these fields: a ‘Handbook on Designing and Implementing Anti-corruption Policies’ has been published. In Moldova, a bill was drafted on political finance in line with the Council of Europe’s ‘Common Rules against Corruption in the Funding of Political Parties and Electoral Campaigns’. A legal opinion on the draft amendments to the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan was submitted. We also supported the establishment of a specialised high-tech crime unit in Georgia, and a National Investigation Centre to fight Cybercrime in the Republic of Moldova. “We seek to In the field of elections, we have contributed to preparing the electoral administrations for fulfilling their Info Centre accompanyeighbourhood tasks, as well as national NGOs to better fulfill their role as observers.

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the processes An of transition to democracy or support the consolidation of democracy, depending on the progress achieved by the country concerned.”

ENPI project What is the biggest challenge you are facing in the East?

For the Eastern Partnership Facility, the main challenge is to involve all partner countries in the regional activities and notably the Belarusian authorities. Until now, the Belarusian representatives participate only in two thematic projects: the fight against corruption and the fight against cybercrime. Overall, coordination among donors remains another major challenge. Ideally, all actors in the field should interact and complement each other for the benefit of the countries concerned. However, despite important efforts, we know very well that we are not there yet. Also, achieving the right balance between the country specific and regional activities, their synergy and complementarity, and promoting interregional cooperation – these are important issues for ensuring efficient and sustainable cooperation. Will there be new projects in the East any time soon? Our cooperation priorities for the new projects will be defined jointly with the EU: the CoE is indeed willing to continue the cooperation in programme areas such as the judiciary, fight against corruption and cybercrime, and elections. New cooperation projects in the field of local democracy and civil society will also be on the agenda for negotiation with the EU.

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Council of Europe Facility for the Eastern Partnership eighbourhood Info Centre www.coe.int/t/dgap/eap-facility/

An ENPI project

Info Centre - Council of Europe Facility for the Eastern Partnership - fiche and news www.enpi-info.eu/maineast.php?id=461&id_type=10 External Action Service - EU relations with the Council of Europe http://eeas.europa.eu/organisations/coe/

EU Neighbourhood Info Centre An ENPI project The EU Neighbourhood Info Centre is an EU-funded Regional Information and Communication project highlighting the partnership between the EU and Neighbouring countries. The project is managed by Action Global Communications.