The EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly is the inter-parliamentary forum in which members of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

and the national parliaments of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

participate and forge closer political and economic ties with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. It was established in 2011 by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

as a component of the

Eastern Partnership The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint initiative of the European Union, together with its member states, and six Eastern Europe, Eastern European countries. The EaP framework governs the EU's relationship with the post-Soviet states of Armen ...

. After the elections in Belarus in 2010 were declared as flawed by the

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

, the membership of Belarus in Euronest was automatically suspended. Belarus is welcome to re-join the Assembly once political requirements have been fulfilled. In 2015, Azerbaijan's membership was suspended due to the European Union's criticism of human rights abuses by the government. In September 2016, it was announced that Azerbaijan would take the necessary steps towards restoring ties. As of 2017, the combined population of Euronest members (excluding Belarus and European Union members) stood at 61,927,521 people.

Member states

In addition to the 27 member states of the

, five

Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and ...

states participate: *

Suspended members

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Structure

The Assembly is made up of 60 members of the European Parliament and 10 members from the parliaments of each partner country. Plenary sessions are chaired by two co-presidents, one from the European Parliament and one from the partner parliaments. The Bureau of the Assembly is made up of the two co-presidents and eight vice-presidents, four from the European Parliament and four from the partner parliaments. There are four committees and three working groups.

Plenary meetings

The Euronest Parliamentary Assembly meets in plenary once a year. Meeting locations alternate between an Eastern European Partner country and one of the European Parliament places of work (Brussels, Luxembourg or Strasbourg). The committees meet twice a year and working groups meet as required.

EU integration

Members of Euronest have been regarded as belonging to the "European family". All members are part of the

European Neighbourhood Policy The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is a foreign relations instrument of the European Union (EU) which seeks to tie those countries to the east and south of the European territory of the EU to the Union. These countries include some who seek ...

and each maintain various degrees of integration with the EU. Some members of Euronest such as

and

are actively seeking eventual EU membership and wish to forge closer ties with the EU. Other states such as

and

cooperate with both the European Union and the

Eurasian Economic Union The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU or EEU)EAEU is the acronym used on thorganisation's website However, many media outlets use the acronym EEU. is an economic union of five post-Soviet states located in Eurasia. The EAEU has an integrated single ...

and

have been questioned about their European perspectives due to human rights abuses and lack of freedom of speech.

Prospect of EU membership

European Union future possible members 2

In December 2019, following the eighth plenary meeting held in Tbilisi, a resolution was passed by all members of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. The resolution outlines various EU integration goals to be achieved by 2030. The resolution highlights the importance of the

program and how the initiative supports the six EU associated countries in letting them move more rapidly with reform implementation and deeper political and economic integration with the EU. The resolution also confirms the successes of the EU Enlargement Policy and its transformative power on Central and Eastern European countries in their development from post-totalitarian regulated economies to European style democracies and that future enlargement shall spread these successes to the Eastern Partnership countries willing to join the EU. The resolution affirms that the process of EU enlargement is open to

member states and that future enlargement of the EU will be mutually beneficial for both the EU and Eastern Partnership members. Furthermore, the resolution endorses continuing progressive reforms and harmonization with EU standards, promoting European values and human rights and establishing visa free travel to the EU's

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

for Eastern Partnership members. The resolution praised the achievements made by Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine in signing Association Agreements and a

Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTA) are three free trade areas established between the European Union, and Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine respectively. The DCFTAs are part of each country's EU Association Agreement. They allow Geo ...

with the EU. Similarly, the resolution endorsed the progress made in Armenia following the 2018 Velvet Revolution. The resolution stated that, "Armenia is the only country in Europe to transition from being a hybrid regime in 2017 to a democracy in 2018" and that the ratification of a new Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by the Armenian Parliament in April 2018 is considered evidence of a strategically reinforced partnership between Armenia and EU. The resolution coined the term " Trio + 1" which represents the three Association Agreements established with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, as well as the CEPA established with Armenia. The resolution calls for promoting further integration efforts between the EU and the "Trio + 1" group over the next decade. The resolution also acknowledges the potential threat that

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

may have in destabilizing these countries and preventing them from achieving European unity.

References

External links

Euronest Parliamentary Assembly web site

(

)
Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly
( ALDE Group)
Video: Euronest - how it works
(

EuroparlTV EuroparlTV is the webTV of the European Parliament. The service includes news, debates, interviews, educational videos, archived content as well as live streaming of parliamentary sessions and committee meetings. All videos are subtitled in all 2 ...

) {{Portal bar, Europe, European Union, Politics Parliamentary assemblies European Union and third organisations International organizations based in Europe European integration Pan-Europeanism Armenia–European Union relations Georgia (country)–European Union relations Moldova–European Union relations Ukraine–European Union relations