Background

In April 2014, the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE) agreed in a Statement of Intent that targeted cooperation activities with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus - the EU’s Eastern Partnership countries - would be implemented under a ‘Programmatic Cooperation Framework’ (PCF).

These cooperation activities will strengthen the capacity of Eastern Partnership countries, which are member States of the Council of Europe with the exception of Belarus; to implement domestic reforms to bring them closer to the standards of the Council of Europe and the European Union in the fields of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The PCF will be implemented in two phases: 2015‑2017 and 2018-2020. A mid-term evaluation will take place in 2017 and a final evaluation in 2020. The budget for the first implementation phase (2015-2017) is €33.8 million. The PCF is funded 90% by the European Union and 10% by the Council of Europe. It is implemented by the Council of Europe.

Five priority areas (or “themes” as detailed below) of cooperation were identified with the European Union for the PCF. Under these five themes there are 15 sub-themes which lead to 50 country-specific and regional actions.

 The Protection and promotion of human rights

  • strengthening the implementation of European Human Rights standards at regional and national level
  • protecting national and ethnic minorities' rights
  • promoting equality and human dignity
  • promoting human rights education and democratic citizenship

 Ensuring justice

  • strengthening the independence and efficiency of justice
  • strengthening constitutional justice
  • promoting penitentiary reforms (from a punitive to a rehabilitative approach)

 Combating threats to the rule of law

  • fight against corruption and fostering good governance/fight against money-laundering
  • criminal justice action on cyber crime

Addressing challenges of the information society

  • improve freedom, independence, pluralism and diversity of media
  • information society and Internet governance
  • enhance the right to data protection

 Promoting democratic governance

  • electoral assistance: reforming electoral legislation and practice
  • strengthening institutional frameworks for local governance