RESEARCH PAPER 11/73 •
Make ENPI contributions voluntary [for EU member states]
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Include some “negative” conditionality
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Set realistic and achievable targets
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More market access
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Scrap rules of origin for products from the region
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More aid geared towards boosting trade
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Tighter controls on how money is spent
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More focus on civil society
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Drop the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach
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Scrap the Union for the Mediterranean 284
In May 2011, the Commission admitted that “recent events and the results of the review have shown that EU support to political reforms in neighbouring countries has met with limited results” and promised that a “new approach must be based on mutual accountability and a shared commitment to the universal values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law”. 285 The policy would also be supported by an extra €1.2 billion for the following two years, and on top of that, more funding would be forthcoming from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank. The extra funding will, according to the Commission, be more conditional. In a speech in June 2011, the Commissioner responsible for the ENP set out what he described as “the central benchmarks against which the EU will assess progress and adapt levels of support to its partners”. 286 Those benchmarks are: •
free and fair elections;
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freedom of association, expression and assembly and a free press and media;
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the rule of law administered by an independent judiciary and right to a fair trial;
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fight against corruption;
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security and law enforcement sector reform and the establishment of democratic control over armed and security forces. 287
He mentioned a number of other criteria and said that, in future, action plans worked out with neighbouring countries would contain a limited number of achievable priorities and set out clear sequences of actions to achieve them. In October 2011, William Hague expressed his support for the new ENP and said that it could be an important boost for reform: 284 285
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287
Ibid., p19-22 European Commission, “A new response to a changing neighbourhood”, Joint communication, COM(2011)303, 25 May 2011 Štefan Füle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, 'Revolutionising the European Neighbourhood Policy in response to tougher Mediterranean revolutions' Round table discussion organised by Members of the European Parliament, Brussels, 14 June 2011 Ibid.
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