European Neighbourhood Instrument

Assistance from existing sources will be complemented in the future by support from the European Neighbourhood Instrument.

The European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) came into force in 2014.

Belarus will also be eligible under the new European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI).

The Commission will make the necessary proposal to the Council for the establishment of the European Neighbourhood Instrument, referred to in this Communication.

The ETF will also support these countries in their preparations for participation in the European Neighbourhood Instrument.

New assistance programmes under the European Neighbourhood Instrument was agreed for the period 2007-10 to provide financial support for the implementation of the ENP Action Plans.

Belarus is nevertheless already eligible for the EU neighbourhood programmes and could in principle benefit from the new European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI).

Starting from 2007, the new European Neighbourhood Instrument will support cross border co-operation as well as regional co-operation projects involving both EU member states and partner countries.

To these ends, the European Neighbourhood Instrument will finance joint projects proposed by and for the benefit of partners from both the EU Member States and partner countries.

The Commission recommends that Russia be offered support for implementing relevant parts of the strategic partnership from the proposed European Neighbourhood Instrument, in addition to existing forms of support.

The main instrument of the EU to improve the relationship with its Eastern neighbours is the Neighbourhood Policy and the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENPI).

As Turkey is a candidate for accession, it is not a part of the European neighbourhood policy and benefits from the pre-accession aid instrument rather than the European Neighbourhood Instrument.

Giving incentives and rewarding best performers, as well as offering funds in a faster and more flexible manner, are the two main principles underlying the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) that came into force in 2014.

A European Neighbourhood Instrument was first envisaged in the Commission’s March 2003 Communication and further developed in the July 2003 Communication "Paving the Way for a New Neighbourhood Instrument"14.

Interreg and the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) finance jointly programmes strengthening bilateral relations between EU Member States and partner countries laying on the East and South of the EU's borders.

The Commission will propose the introduction in 2007 of a new financial instrument, the European Neighbourhood Instrument, which will address specific areas of cooperation, in particular cross-border co-operation, in addition to the areas addressed by existing instruments or their successors.

SHORT JUSTIFICATION The regulation on the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) is the basis for implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

It is only in this way that the doubling of funds available via the European Neighbourhood Instrument and the principles governing the Structural Funds, such as partnership, sustainability, effectiveness, non-discrimination and decentralisation, will yield the beneficial effects that we all expect.

In addition, Interreg contributes up to EUR 50 billion on cooperation with accession and neighbouring countries, in conjunction with the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) and the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI).

The European Neighbourhood Instrument In its proposal for the financial perspective 2007-2013, the Commission includes the new European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) as one of the six financial instruments that should operate in the area of external relations after 2006.

The European Neighbourhood Instrument will complement assistance provided under the existing financial instruments or their successors, and will focus specifically on cross-border cooperation and related activities. The Commission intends to come forward with a draft regulation as part of its package of proposals for financial instruments which will operate in the next financial perspective.