Secretary General Jagland signs “Facility” for the Eastern Partnership with Commissioner Füle

Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland and European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), Štefan Füle have signed today a € 4 million “Facility” in the framework of the Eastern Partnership initiative (EaP): a multilateral tool to facilitate activities in the fields of electoral standards, support to the judiciary, fight against corruption and cybercrime in six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine.

“Today's signature marks the beginning of new partnership based on a more strategic approach to co-operation between the EU and the Council of Europe. This is one of the key external objectives of the on going reform of the Council of Europe and I am very encouraged that it has been achieved so early in the process. A shift to "facility" financing reflects a qualitative improvement in the co-operation between the two partner Organisations, allowing for increased co-operation and long-term planning" declared Jagland after the meeting".

In the framework of Council of Europe - European Union relations, Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has already met with the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy; with the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso; with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton; and with the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek.