Eastern Partnership summit, 24 November 2017

Main results

On the occasion of the Eastern Partnership summit, EU leaders met with their six Eastern partners — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine —  to agree on the future priorities of their partnership.

Together they discussed how to strengthen cooperation and achieve stronger economy, governance, connectivity and society.

"We want to reinforce Eastern Partnership cooperation in a number of specific areas such as small and medium-sized enterprises, digital economy, broadband investments, and investments in transport, energy and infrastructure projects. The list is long. But above all, we want to strengthen links between our citizens and give more support to civil society." President Tusk at the press conference of the Eastern Partnership summit

• Remarks by President Donald Tusk after the 5th Eastern Partnership summit

All leaders agreed on a joint declaration reconfirming their commitment and the high importance they attach to the Eastern Partnership.

• Joint declaration of the Eastern Partnership summit, 24 November 2017

In the declaration, the EU reaffirmed its commitment to support the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of all its partners.

Summit participants called for renewed efforts to promote the peaceful settlement of unresolved conflicts in the region on the basis of international law.

They acknowledged the European aspirations and European choice of partners who signed association agreements with the EU, namely Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine; while recognising the right for other partners to choose the level of ambition they aspire to in their relations with the EU.

"There should be no doubt that our common future lies in the EU's readiness to open up EU policies for our partners. And I can reconfirm that we are ready to do that." President Tusk at the press conference of the Eastern Partnership summit

Leaders also welcomed the '20 deliverables for 2020'. This a framework aiming to improve the lives of citizens across the Eastern partners in the four priority areas of cooperation identified in Riga in 2015.

• Factsheet on the Eastern Partnership's 20 deliverables for 2020 (EEAS)

In addition, the joint declaration stressed:

• the importance of good governance
• the need for better and safer transport links
• the importance of energy security
• the need to further support independent media and expose disinformation
• leaders' engagement to foster mobility and empower youth

In the margins of the summit, the EU and Armenia signed a comprehensive and enhanced partnership agreement and they concluded an aviation agreement. In addition, the EU's Trans-European Transport (TEN-T) network was extended to Eastern partners.

• Comprehensive and enhanced partnership agreement between the EU and Armenia

The next Eastern Partnership summit is foreseen for 2019.

About the Eastern Partnership 

The EaP was launched in 2009 to promote political association and economic integration between the EU and the six Eastern European partner countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. 

• Eastern Partnership (background information)
• Factsheet on myths about the Eastern Partnership (EEAS)
• Factsheet on strengthening businesses in Eastern partner countries (EEAS)
• Facts and figures on EU-Armenia relations (EEAS)
• Facts and figures on EU-Belarus relations (EEAS)
• Facts and figures on EU-Azerbaijan relations (EEAS)
• Facts and figures on EU-Georgia relations (EEAS)
• Facts and figures on EU-Moldova relations (EEAS)
• Facts and figures on EU-Ukraine relations (EEAS)

Key side events

The Eastern Partnership goes beyond relations between governments. Young people, local authorities, civil society, media, businesses and other stakeholders are closely involved with dedicated side events.

These events are organised in the margins of the summit throughout the year, in partnership with the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The 3rd Eastern Partnership Youth Forum took place in Warsaw on 22-23 June 2017. 300 participants engaged in debates about active citizenship and youth involvement in the decision making process. They adopted a series of recommendations on youth policies.

• Eastern Partnership Youth Forum
• Recommendations from the 3rd Eastern Partnership Youth Forum

The Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP) held its annual meeting in Brussels on 12 September. The event focused on the importance of deepening ties with local authorities in the EaP countries.

• Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities

The 2^nd Eastern Partnership Media Conference took place in Kyiv on 13 September 2017. The conference focused on media development needs and the needs of professional journalism in modern times. The event attracted more than 350 participants, confirming the scale of the freedom of expression challenges faced by the media.

• Eastern Partnership Media Conference
• Eastern partnership Media Conference Factsheet

The Eastern Partnership E-partnership Conference took place in Tallinn on 4 October 2017. The event showcased the positive results achieved in the development of e-governance in the EaP countries.Participants also took stock of the situation in the region and looked at ways forward. A report on cyberspace security and e-democracy in EaP countries was prepared for this event.

• Eastern Partnership E-partnership Conference
• Eastern Partnership E-partnership Factsheet
• Situation review: safety and security of cyberspace and e-democracy in the Eastern Partnership countries

The EU Youth Conference took place in Tallinn on 23-26 October 2017. For the first time, twelve young people from the EaP countries participated in the event. They joined around 250 youth representatives and policy makers to map out the issues that really matters to young people in Europe today and to reflect on actions that can be taken to address them.

• EU Youth Conference

The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Conference took place on 25-26 October 2017, in combination with the 9th Annual Assembly of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum. The event focused on the relations between governments and civil society, democratic governance, countering disinformation and e-solutions.

• Eastern Partnership Civil Society Conference
• Eastern Partnership Civil Society Factsheet
• 9th Annual Assembly of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum

The Eastern Partnership Business Forum took place on 26-27 October 2017 in Tallinn. Participants discussed how to redefine governance processes and create a basis for digital economies. Discussions also focused on cross-border trade, logistics, e-commerce and financing for international business. More than 500 business leaders, government officials, policy makers from the EU and EaP countries attended the event.

An agreement was signed between the EU and the European Investment Bank (EIB), in the margins of this event. This allowed the EIB to open its first local currency loans in Ukraine. The EIB and the European Investment Fund (EIF) also signed three more EU-backed guarantee agreements with local banks. The objective was to respond to the urgent needs of Georgian, Moldovan and Ukrainian businesses.

• Eastern Partnership Business Forum

Previous summit

The previous EaP summit took place in Riga on 21-22 May 2015. It reconfirmed the strategic importance the EU attaches to the partnership and demonstrated a firm determination to pursue closer, tailor-made relations with the six partner countries.

• Eastern Partnership summit, Riga, 21-22/05/2015

Useful links

Additional information and communication materials can be found on the European Commission and the EEAS websites.

• The Eastern Partnership (EEAS)
• The Eastern Partnership (European Commission, Neighbourhood - Enlargement)