Nikolaos Chiotakis' (EPP/EL) opinion calling for the development of the New European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was adopted this week during the European Committee of the Regions' Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX) in Kołobrzeg, Poland. The document asks for local and regional authorities to be involved in all of the new ENP phases: setting priorities, evaluating outcomes and auditing the content of government policies.

The European Neighbourhood Policy was developed in 2003 to strengthen relations between the EU and its neighbouring countries. A cornerstone of this policy is progressing integration with the EU by implementing political, economic and institutional reforms. Bearing this in mind, a commitment to shared values, like democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law should be preeminent.

"The ENP cannot simply be a process between governments and EU institutions. The participation of other actors from the partner countries and local and regional authorities in particular is paramount" underlined Chiotakis, Member of Kifissia Municipal Council.

Chiotakis sees the new ENP as a way of setting specific objectives and offering its partners a clear timeframe for the implementation of its policies, "The new ENP will have little or no impact if there are no concrete benefits for particular stakeholders or if those benefits are only likely to emerge in the distant future" – he explains.

Furthermore the document considers close cooperation on energy issues a significant part of the EU's relations with its neighbours, "Many ENP partners are significant suppliers of energy sources in EU Member States. This cooperation should be further encouraged to serve the mutual interests of all parties", suggests the rapporteur.

The opinion also suggests applying a macro-regional approach to the Mediterranean basin that the EU has already successfully implemented in other regions. This region shares a similar geography to the Baltic and Danube macro-regions and therefore they could be used as a guide for implementing this policy.

The document will be subject to final CoR vote at the assembly's plenary session next month.

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