Azernews.Az

The Council of the European Union on Monday made its recommendations on the renewed European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which in late May was proposed by the European External Action Service and the European Commission, the EU press service said in a statement.

The new ENP is to update the EU strategy with regards to its eastern and southern neighbors, which will now be based on the principle of "more funding - more reforms".

The Council of the European Union, one of the governing bodies of the Union, welcomed the initiatives of the new ENP in all spheres.

Speaking of the countries of Eastern Neighbourhood, the Council welcomes the entering into force of the visa facilitation and readmission agreements with Georgia, which were reached in March. The statement also says that the EU will also seek to launch negotiations on visa facilitation agreements in parallel with readmission agreements with Belarus, for the benefit of the population at large, as well as with Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Council welcomes the presentation of the progress reports on the implementation of the Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova Visa Liberalisation Action.

According to renewed ENP, more than €1.2 billion in new funding will be allocated to the ENP countries, bringing the total to almost €7 billion.

The EU would make funding available for its neighbourhood partners to support and match the speed of political and economic reform they wish to make.

The renewed ENP builds on the achievements the EU's Neighbourhood Policy since it was first launched in 2004, offering new types of support for more sections of society, and introducing more incentives to pursue reform.