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The 2013 European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) package, which will be published on 20 March, is set to praise Georgia and Moldova for their good progress in implementing the EU’s key recommendations necessary for political and economic reforms, an EU source told the press, on 19 March.

The 2013 ENP package consists in a communication taking stock of general trends in the EU neighbourhood, twelve country progress reports (one for each neighbour that has concluded an ENP action plan) and two regional reports, one for the South and one for the East.

On the twelve countries where progress is being assessed (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Moldova, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Ukraine), there is a “very mixed picture,” the EU official noted as “some countries are still in the very early stages of democratic reforms”.

Morocco and Tunisia will also be commended for their strong commitment to political and economic reforms, while Egypt’s attempts to find “the right balance” will be recognised, although there is “slightly less progress”.

These reports will be key to the EU's decision on the allocation of its financial assistance. Indeed, under the 'more for more' policy, only those neighbourhood countries that have demonstrated progress towards democratic reforms will receive EU financial support in form of grants. But a planned cut in the ENP’s budget – specific figures are not yet known – could have major consequences, the EU diplomat noted, as there would be more competition from neighbourhood countries to get the available EU funds.

In 2007-2013, the EU provided its neighbourhood partners with over €12 billion in grant money for the implementation of the ENP. /Europolitics.info/