The Eastern Partnership beyond 2020: Joining efforts for a more effective policy
On October 16, 2019 the Georgian Institute of Politics was invited to participate in a thematic working groups session and a plenary discussion – “The Eastern Partnership beyond 2020: Joining efforts for a more effective policy”, hosted by the Institute for European Politics (IEP, Institut für Europäische Politik) in the framework of the “Europeanization beyond process” initiative.
Welcome speeches were delivered by Dr. Katrin Böttger (Director, Institut für Europäische Politik, Berlin), Hans-Jürgen Heimsoeth (Special Representative for the Eastern Partnership, Federal Foreign Office, Berlin) and Dominic Maugeais (Senior Project Manager, Research Associate, Institut für Europäische Politik, Berlin) followed by a thematic working groups session to discuss proposals from the region.
The 1st working group focused on the design of EaP and was facilitated by the GIP Deputy Director Renata Skardžiūtė-Kereselidze. The working group discussed ways that the EaP could be redesigned to uphold the motivation for continued reforms in the partner countries and effectively address diverging developments within the partner countries while at the same time maintaining an inclusive approach and fostering regional cooperation.
The 2nd working group focused on the governance and rule of law and was presented by Kornely Kakachia, GIP Director, at the plenum discussion. The working group discussed different scenarios to strengthen the good governance and rule of law in the Eastern Partnership countries under a revised structure of the EaP and possible ways that renewed EaP could deal with populist/anti-democratic tendencies in the regions.
The discussion results of all working groups were later presented in the plenum discussion moderated by Dr. Katrin Böttger.
The “Europeanization beyond process” initiative seeks to bridge the gap between Europeanization discourses in EU member states and EU neighboring countries by bringing together policy research organizations from Eastern Partnership countries with their counterparts and decision-makers in the EU capitals.
The partner organizations include: Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP), Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS), The Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC), Centre for Economic Strategy (CES), New Europe Center (NEC), Expert-Grup, Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE).
