​EU ANNOUNCES NEW DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS FOR EaP COUNTRIES

Eastern Partnership countries, including Moldova, will receive new opportunities due to 5 new regional initiatives, presented by the European Union.

According to the Eastern Neighborhood Information Center website, the initiatives concern four priority topics – good governance, market opportunities, mobility and interconnections.

“Boosting economic development is one of the main priorities of the Eastern Partnership. This new funding will strengthen the resilience of our partners and will support the necessary structural reforms in order to tap into new sources of growth, generating employment. This together with our continued support to social inclusion will bring tangible results to citizens' lives”, said Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn.

The EU4Youth project will develop youth leadership and entrepreneurship through a variety of actions including capacity building, fellowships, support to policy dialogue, as well as delivering grants to organizations active in these areas.

The program “Integrating SMEs from the EaP countries into domestic and global value chains” will help small and medium-size enterprises access new markets and boost economic development.

Maritime safety, security and maritime environmental protection in the Black and Caspian Sea Regions will support partner countries to implement relevant international legislation and improve their performance to protect maritime environment and maritime transport safety.

Introduction of an Automated Intelligent Video-Control System at Road Border Crossing Point Novaya Huta – Novi Yarylovychi at the Belarus-Ukraine Frontier aims to reduce the time needed to carry out customs and border guard controls, and enhance countries’ capacity to prevent and fight cross-border crimes.

The ENI East Global Allocation 2016 will support project cycle management, including the preparation, monitoring and follow-up of programs, as well as activities in the field of information and communication.

The investment with total worth of 37.3 million euros reflects the priorities agreed upon with the Neighborhood East partner countries at the 2015 Riga Summit, as well as the provisions of the reviewed European Neighborhood Policy (ENP).