- International Summit
Eastern Partnership summit, 15 December 2021
Main results
The leaders of the EU, of the EU member states and of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries met for the sixth Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels on 15 December 2021.
Charles Michel, President of the European Council, chaired the meeting. President Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, represented the EU.
The eastern partners present at the summit were Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. Belarus has suspended its participation in the Eastern Partnership but the EU continues to cooperate with the people of Belarus.
At the end of the summit, the leaders adopted a joint declaration.
The leaders stressed that their partnership remains firmly based on common fundamental values, mutual interests and shared ownership, responsibility, inclusivity, differentiation and mutual accountability.
The Eastern Partnership seeks to foster stability, prosperity and mutual cooperation, and to advance the commitment to the necessary reforms and to address the global and regional challenges.
The Republic of Azerbaijan issued a national declaration.
Shared values
The leaders emphasised their joint determination to uphold the fundamental values they share:
- strengthening democracy and the rule of law
- protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities
- promoting gender equality
- fostering inclusive societies
- ensuring full respect for the principles and norms of international law
The EU remains firm in its support for the independence and sovereignty of all eastern partners, and their territorial integrity within their internationally recognised borders.
We remain deeply concerned about the continuous destabilisation and violations of the principles of international law in many parts of the Eastern Partnership region that pose a threat to peace, security and stability. We call for renewed efforts to promote the peaceful settlement of unresolved conflicts in the Eastern Partnership region based on the principles and norms of international law. Eastern Partnership summit joint declaration
The leaders welcomed the EU’s efforts, enhanced engagement and strengthened role in conflict prevention, conflict resolution and confidence building.
They reaffirmed the sovereign right of each partner to choose its level of ambition and its goals in its relations with the EU. The EaP is not directed against anyone, but designed to contribute to peace and prosperity for all countries in the neighbourhood.
Partnership
The leaders welcomed the agreements the eastern partners and the EU have concluded or are presently negotiating:
- the full entry into force of the Association Agreements (AAs) and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTAs) with Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine
- the entry into force of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the EU and Armenia in March 2021
- the progress in the negotiations between the EU and Azerbaijan on a new comprehensive agreement
The EU acknowledged the initiative of the trio of associated partners (Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) to enhance their cooperation with the EU.
The EU regrets the decision of the Belarusian authorities to suspend their participation in the EaP and looks forward to resuming cooperation as soon as the necessary conditions for a peaceful democratic transition are in place to build on a joint agenda based on common values and shared interests.
In the meantime, the EU continues to engage with and support Belarusian citizens, civil society and independent media, including through a comprehensive plan of economic support for a democratic Belarus of up to €3 billion.
Reiterating previous statements, the EU condemned the instrumentalisation of migrants and refugees by the Belarusian authorities, and indeed all incidents of instrumentalisation of migrants for political purposes.
Stronger together: the Eastern Partnership (infographic)
Resilience and prosperity
The leaders pledged to enhance resilience by focusing on:
- strengthening the rule of law
- establishing efficient, transparent and accountable public administration at all levels of government
- tackling fraud, corruption and economic crime
- combatting organised crime
- strengthening security and cyber resilience, including against hybrid threats
The leaders undertook to promote gradual convergence in the area of foreign and security policy, in line with partners’ commitments with the EU.
They also reaffirmed the importance of strengthening strategic communication for building resilience, including in the fight against disinformation and information manipulation.
The EU and interested partners welcomed the recent signing of common aviation area agreements with Armenia and Ukraine, creating new opportunities for both consumers and operators.
They welcomed the agreements with Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine on their association with Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation programme (2021-2027).
- Horizon Europe (background information)
- Armenia joins Horizon Europe (European Commission)
- Georgia joins Horizon Europe (European Commission)
- The Republic of Moldova joins Horizon Europe (European Commission)
- Ukraine joins Horizon Europe (European Commission)
The leaders will work to enhance environmental and climate resilience by advancing green transition through investments and cooperation on the circular economy, green growth and climate adaptation, and strengthening biodiversity.
The EU supports partner countries' efforts to achieve climate neutrality in 2050 by phasing out coal, making more ambitious nationally determined contributions and accelerating their implementation in line with the commitments of COP26.
Eastern Partnership policy beyond 2020
The leaders committed to enhancing their cooperation on the basis of the EaP policy beyond 2020.
The five long-term objectives of the EaP policy beyond 2020 emphasise recovery, resilience and reform as key building blocks of the future agenda. The long-term objectives are:
- developing resilient, sustainable and integrated economies
- ensuring accountable institutions, the rule of law and security
- developing environmental and climate resilience
- delivering a resilient digital transformation
- creating resilient, gender-equal, fair and inclusive societies
These objectives are accompanied by an ambitious €2.3 billion regional economic investment plan (EIP, including country flagship initiatives) to support post-COVID-19 socio-economic recovery and strengthen longer-term resilience by accelerating the green and digital transformations. The plan is expected to leverage up to €17 billion in public and private investments.
The first investments contributing to the EIP goals include the following:
- 100 smart energy-efficient buses will be delivered to Yerevan to reduce congestion and air pollution (Armenia)
- 1 000 communities will benefit from high-speed internet in rural parts of Georgia
- improving connectivity and anchoring Moldova in the trans-European transport network
- increasing the energy efficiency of buildings in Moldova and Ukraine
- supporting small and medium-sized companies in Azerbaijan and Ukraine
The EIP follows the substantial support to tackle the pandemic, under the Team Europe approach, and the ongoing support for vaccination and to develop COVID-19 digital certificates.
- EaP future priorities (European Commission factsheet)
- EaP policy beyond 2020 (background information)
The EaP policy beyond 2020 was set out in a joint communication by the European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in March 2020. The communication and the objectives were welcomed by the Council in its conclusions of May 2020 and by EaP leaders meeting via video conference in June 2020. Further details of the new agenda are outlined in a joint staff working document adopted in July 2021.
The Eastern Partnership: Recovery - Reform - Resilience (infographic)
Solidarity
The leaders recalled that post-COVID-19 socio-economic recovery and longer-term development provide an opportunity to strengthen resilience by investing in sustainable connectivity and accelerating the green and digital transitions.
They acknowledged the continued commitment of the EU and its member states to support partner countries in addressing the pandemic and in the vaccination process, to fight against anti-vaccine disinformation and to foster longer-term health resilience.
As part of the Team Europe COVID-19 global response, the EU and its member states have provided €2.5 billion to support partner countries in tackling the coronavirus health crisis and in their long-term socio-economic recovery. This includes nearly €1.5 billion of macro-financial assistance to Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
€75 million has been made available to support the vaccination process and access to vaccines. This comprises €40 million for an ongoing WHO project on vaccine deployment and a €35 million mechanism, coordinated by Poland that will facilitate the delivery of vaccines to the Eastern Partnership countries from member states, topping up the more than 13 million doses donated so far via COVAX and the EU vaccine sharing mechanism. A donation under this scheme of over 400 000 BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines from Portugal to Armenia is already expected in the next few weeks.
The leaders welcomed the mutual recognition of COVID-19 digital certificates by Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, and soon Azerbaijan, allowing for safer and easier travel to and from the EU.
Joint ownership
The leaders called for strengthened joint ownership and reaffirmed the importance of inclusive engagement of all parts of society. They emphasised the need to further engage with civil society, in particular with young people and by promoting gender equality, tolerance and intercultural dialogue.
Engagement with civil society, including through the EaP Civil Society Forum, and broadened outreach and targeted support to grassroots civil society organisations and social partners, remains an integral part of the Eastern Partnership.
Additional initiatives
A number of further initiatives in support of the Eastern Partnership were launched in the run-up to the summit.
The new Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk is part of the EU4Business initiative. It seeks to help boost the trade competitiveness of micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in EaP countries and the EU.
A financing agreement for €60 million in budget support for Moldova will help the country cope with the impact of the severe gas crisis. Announced during the 6th EU-Moldova Association Council meeting on 28 October 2021 and signed on 15 December 2021, it will help support the most vulnerable citizens facing rising energy bills.
The European Commission has mobilised a new €30 million assistance package to support the people of Belarus, both within and outside the country. The package focuses on providing support to young people, independent media, SMEs in exile and cultural actors.
The EaP has delivered
- EU-EaP trade exceeded €65 billion in 2020 (+22% in 10 years)
- the EU is the number-one trade partner for four out of six EaP countries
- the EU has supported over 185 000 SMEs in EaP countries, creating or sustaining 1.65 million jobs
- over 80 000 exchange opportunities have been provided to young people
- almost 50% of EaP local authorities have committed to cutting CO2 emissions
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 in dedicated summit side events.
Participants in the senior officials meeting proposed priorities and targets based on the joint staff working document.
Eastern Partnership foreign ministers had an exchange of views on ways of advancing the partnership, focusing in particular on issues of governance and investment, as well as reinforcing the partnership for resilience, recovery and reform.
The fifth Eastern Partnership Youth Forum, an online event held on 23 and 24 November, brought together young people, youth workers and policymakers to engage in debates about values and youth participation in democratic processes and to discuss key achievements, challenges, and opportunities for youth participation in the context of the post-2020 priorities for the Eastern Partnership initiative
The 13th annual assembly of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum was held online from 30 November to 2 December 2021. It brought together more than 300 civil society organisations and EaP and EU decision-makers to discuss the final steps and challenges ahead of the summit, as well as the ambitions and policy objectives set out in the new policy documents.
A high-level event of the Think Tank Network on the Eastern Partnership was held by the European Commission and the German Council on Foreign Relations. The first such event took place in September 2020 under the theme 'The EU’s Eastern Partnership in times of upheaval'.
The 10th annual Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities (CORLEAP) for the Eastern Partnership focused on the importance of deepening ties with local authorities in the EaP countries.
Background
Eastern partners: facts and figures
EU Neighbours East
This news portal presents the latest information on the EU's cooperation with its eastern partners: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. It also features a dedicated page on the sixth Eastern Partnership summit, available in eight languages.
Previous summit
The fifth Eastern Partnership summit was held in 2017.
20 deliverables for 2020
At the 2017 summit, leaders adopted ’20 deliverables for 2020’, an ambitious work plan to improve the lives of citizens in the Eastern partner countries. The work plan focuses on four priority areas of cooperation.
- 20 deliverables for 2020 (background information)
- 20 deliverables for 2020: bringing tangible results for citizens (EEAS factsheet)
A consultation on the future of the Eastern Partnership conducted on the occasion of its 10th anniversary showed that these 20 deliverables were fit for purpose and delivered concrete and tangible results.
Young European Ambassadors (YEAs)
The YEAs initiative was launched by the EU in June 2016, when the first 100 young people were appointed as YEAs. It is a non-political and voluntary network of proactive young people from the eastern partner countries, the EU and the UK, who are keen to connect, share and work together for a better future. There are currently more than 700 active YEAs across 34 countries.
For the sixth Eastern Partnership summit, the YEAs in each eastern partner country are organising topical debates on leading media channels that are livestreamed to hundreds of thousands of people via popular platforms. The discussion topics are picked by the YEAs themselves and focus on future EU investments and cooperation areas that matter to the young people, drawing from the high-level summit agenda.
The debates are streamed live on the EU Neighbours East Facebook page.
Disinformation narratives about the Eastern Partnership
The Eastern Partnership and its members are targets of disinformation campaigns, which deprive citizens of clear and verifiable information about the initiative and its benefits.
The East Stratcom Task Force (European External Action Service) has put together a factsheet to expose the most common disinformation narratives regarding the Eastern Partnership and partner countries.
Useful links
Meeting files
Outcome documents
Press releases
Press information
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