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Information Society Goes East: ICT Policy in the EU’s Eastern Partnership Cooperation Framework

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Political and Legal Perspectives of the EU Eastern Partnership Policy

Abstract

This chapter analyses how ICT policy is reflected in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) framework and what governance instruments it employs. The analysis is based on the review of relevant policy and legal documents. The contribution traces stages of the development of the ICT policy in the EaP framework from 2009 to early 2015. The analysis indicates that the ICT policy develops in stages. Each subsequent policy programming cycle extends and expands the ICT issues across various spheres of the EaP. Thus, the ICT policy is becoming increasingly important and a mainstream policy area in the overall EaP. The chapter argues that the enhanced ICT cooperation within the EaP is linked to the growing significance of ICT in the EU internal policies promoting the Information Society and Digital Single Market. The main argument of this chapter is that to further strengthen cooperation in ICT matters within the EaP, the EU should focus on the greater involvement of stakeholders of different levels, the dissemination of information and best practices, the promotion of cooperation between the EaP partners and more flexibility through the use of various policy and governance instruments in the EaP toolbox.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Council of the European Union. Joint Declaration of the Prague Eastern Partnership Summit, 7 May 2009.

  2. 2.

    Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Eastern Partnership. COM(2008) 823 final of 03.12.2008, Brussels, p. 1.

  3. 3.

    Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, A Digital Agenda for Europe, COM(2010) 245 of 19.05.2010.

  4. 4.

    Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Eastern Partnership, COM(2008) 823 final of 3.12.2008, esp. at pp. 8–9.

  5. 5.

    Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Eastern Partnership, COM(2008) 823 final of 3.12.2008, p. 10.

  6. 6.

    Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Eastern Partnership, COM(2008) 823 final of 3.12.2008, pp. 10–11.

  7. 7.

    Commission Report to the meeting of Foreign Ministers. Implementation of the Eastern Partnership in 2009. Meeting doc. 319/09 of 1.12.2009, pp. 6–7.

  8. 8.

    Eastern Partnership. Platform 4 “Contacts between people”. Core objectives and proposed Work Programme 2009–2011. Available at http://eeas.europa.eu/eastern/platforms/docs/platform4_261109_en.pdf.

  9. 9.

    Eastern Partnership. Platform 4 “Contacts between people”. Core objectives and proposed Work Programme 2009–2011, p. 11.

  10. 10.

    See information at the website of the EU and EaP electronic communication regulatory platform: http://www.eapereg.eu/index.php/network/eapereg.

  11. 11.

    Commission Report to the meeting of Foreign Ministers. Implementation of the Eastern Partnership in 2010. Meeting doc. 335/10 of 3.12.2010, p. 13; Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2011. Regional Report: Eastern Partnership, SWD(2012) 112 final of 15.5.2012, pp. 10–11.

  12. 12.

    Eastern Partnership. Platform 4 “Contacts between people”. Core objectives and proposed Work Programme 2009–2011.

  13. 13.

    Commission Report to the meeting of Foreign Ministers. Implementation of the Eastern Partnership in 2010. Meeting doc. 335/10 of 3.12.2010, p. 13.

  14. 14.

    For more information on the BSI, see http://www.increast.eu/en/441.php.

  15. 15.

    For more information on the GÉANT2, see http://geant2.archive.geant.net/.

  16. 16.

    For more information, see https://www.hp-see.eu/.

  17. 17.

    For more information, see http://www.see-grid-sci.eu/.

  18. 18.

    Council of the European Union, Warsaw, 29–30 September 2011.

  19. 19.

    Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2012. Regional Report: Eastern Partnership, SWD(2013) 85 final of 20.3.2013, p. 14.

  20. 20.

    See http://www.eapereg.eu/index.php/84-side-left/113-policy.

  21. 21.

    See the Memorandum of understanding of the Eastern Partnership regulators network. Available at http://www.eapereg.eu/attachments/article/198/FINAL%20MoU%20on%20EaP%20Regulators%20Network_English.pdf.

  22. 22.

    See the information on the project at http://www.enpi-info.eu/maineast.php?id=464&id_type=10 and http://www.eapereg.eu/index.php/project/about.

  23. 23.

    Council of the European Union, Vilnius, 29 November 2013.

  24. 24.

    Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2013. Regional Report: Eastern Partnership, SWD(2014) 99 final of 27.3.2014, p. 3.

  25. 25.

    Council of the European Union. Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit, Vilnius, 29 November 2013, para. 18; Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2013. Regional Report: Eastern Partnership, SWD(2014) 99 final of 27.3.2014, p. 4.

  26. 26.

    Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2012. Regional Report: Eastern Partnership, SWD(2013) 85 final of 20.3.2013, p. 18; Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2013. Regional Report: Eastern Partnership, SWD(2014) 99 final of 27.3.2014, p. 22.

  27. 27.

    Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2013. Regional Report: Eastern Partnership, SWD(2014) 99 final of 27.3.2014, p. 4.

  28. 28.

    The text of the Joint Declaration can be found at http://www.asm.md/galerie/Joint%20Declaration-final%20v2(1).pdf.

  29. 29.

    Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2013. Regional Report: Eastern Partnership, SWD(2014) 99 final of 27.3.2014, p. 22.

  30. 30.

    Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2011. Regional Report: Eastern Partnership, SWD(2012) 112 final of 15.5.2012, p. 12.

  31. 31.

    The Work Programme of the Panel on public administration reform can be found under http://www.cscouncil.am/Draft%20PAR%20Panel%20Work%20Programme%20adopted%20061011.pdf.

  32. 32.

    Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2013. Regional Report: Eastern Partnership, SWD(2014) 99 final of 27.3.2014, p. 20.

  33. 33.

    Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Eastern Partnership, COM(2008) 823 final of 3.12.2008, p. 3.

  34. 34.

    Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Georgia, of the other part, OJ L 261/4 of 30.8.2014.

  35. 35.

    Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Moldova, of the other part, OJ L 260/4 of 30.8.2014.

  36. 36.

    Association Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part, OJ L 161/3 of 29.5.2014.

  37. 37.

    See country information under http://eeas.europa.eu/armenia/index_en.htm.

  38. 38.

    See country information under http://eeas.europa.eu/azerbaijan/index_en.htm.

  39. 39.

    Belarus participates only in the multilateral mode in the EaP. See country information under http://eeas.europa.eu/belarus/index_en.htm.

  40. 40.

    See Arts. 324–325 EU-Georgia AA, Arts. 98–99 EU-Moldova AA and Arts. 389–392 EU-Ukraine AA.

  41. 41.

    The following overview of Association Agreements is largely based on Batura and Kretova (2015).

  42. 42.

    Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services, OJ L 108 of 24.4.2002.

  43. 43.

    For provisions on regulatory authorities, see Art. 105 EU-Georgia AA, Art. 232 EU-Moldova AA and Art. 116 EU-Ukraine AA.

  44. 44.

    Directive 2002/19/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on access to, and interconnection of, electronic communications networks and associated facilities, OJ L 108 of 24.4.2002.

  45. 45.

    Compare to the following provisions in Association Agreements under the EaP: Art. 107 EU-Georgia AA, Art. 234 EU-Moldova AA and Art. 118 EU-Ukraine AA.

  46. 46.

    See Arts. 203–209 EU-Georgia AA, Arts. 333–344 EU-Moldova AA and Arts. 253–267 EU-Ukraine AA.

  47. 47.

    Commission Recommendation of 17 December 2007 on relevant product and service markets within the electronic communications sector susceptible to ex ante regulation in accordance with Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services, OJ L 344/65 of 28.12.2007.

  48. 48.

    See Art. 128 EU-Georgia AA, Art. 255 EU-Moldova AA and Art. 140 EU-Ukraine AA.

  49. 49.

    See Annex XV-B EU-Georgia AA, Annex XXVIII-B EU-Moldova AA and Appendix XVII-3 EU-Ukraine AA.

  50. 50.

    See Arts. 129–133 EU-Georgia AA, Arts. 256–260 EU-Moldova AA and Arts. 244–248 EU-Ukraine AA.

  51. 51.

    See Arts. 450–453 EU-Moldova AA and Annex XVII EU-Ukraine AA.

  52. 52.

    Association Agreements also promote cooperation of NRAs. See Art. 326 EU-Georgia AA, Art. 100 EU-Moldova AA and Art. 393 EU-Ukraine AA.

  53. 53.

    Memorandum of Understanding between the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the Group of Eastern Partnership Regulators for Electronic Communications Networks and Services (EaPeReg Network), BoR (14) 125 of 26.09.2014.

  54. 54.

    For more information about the industry’s role, see http://infopark-association.org/harmonizing-digital-markets-hdm-initiative.

  55. 55.

    Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2014. Eastern Partnership Implementation Report, SWD(2015) 76 final of 25.3.2015, p. 13.

  56. 56.

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. Non-paper “Proposal for an Eastern Partnership Flagship Initiative ‘Harmonising the EU’s and Eastern Partners’ digital markets”. Available at http://infopark-association.org/sites/default/files/file_attach/Belarus%20MFA%20-%20HDM%20non-paper-official%20version.pdf.

  57. 57.

    See presentations by the representatives of the industry association Infopark: http://eeca-ict.eu/images/uploads/Cluster_events/Networking_12Nov14_Baku/HDM_Initiative_Anishchanka_BY.pdf and http://infopark-association.org/sites/default/files/file_attach/Infopark%20HDM%20Initiative%20presentation%20-%20Brussels-2014%2005%2013.pdf.

  58. 58.

    Juncker, Jean-Claude. A new start for Europe: My agenda for jobs, growth, fairness and democratic change. Opening statement in the European Parliament Plenary Session of 15.7.2014. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/priorities/docs/pg_en.pdf. See also the Mission Letters to the Vice-President Andrus Ansip and Commissioner Günther Oettinger, available at http://ec.europa.eu/archives/juncker-commission/mission/index_en.htm.

  59. 59.

    Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2014. Eastern Partnership Implementation Report, SWD(2015) 76 final of 25.3.2015, p. 14.

  60. 60.

    For more details, see http://www.ceenet.org/news/ceenet-geant-security-training-starts-in-serbia/.

  61. 61.

    Joint Staff Working Document. Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2014. Eastern Partnership Implementation Report, SWD(2015) 76 final of 25.3.2015, p. 16.

  62. 62.

    Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe, COM(2015) 192 final of 06.05.2015.

  63. 63.

    Council of the European Union. Joint Declaration of the Riga Eastern Partnership Summit, 21–22 May 2015, para. 27.

  64. 64.

    See website of the European Commission on the First Eastern Partnership Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy: http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/first-eastern-partnership-ministerial-meeting-digital-economy.

  65. 65.

    The full text can be found at https://eu2015.lv/images/news/2015_06_11_EaP_Digital_Economy.pdf.

  66. 66.

    Eastern Partnership Work Programme for 2014–2017. Platform 2 “Economic Integration and Convergence with EU Policies”: http://eeas.europa.eu/eastern/platforms/docs/work_programme_2014_2017_platform2_en.pdf, and Platform 4 “Contacts between People”: http://ec.europa.eu/education/international-cooperation/documents/eastern-partnership/work-programme-p4-2014-2017.pdf.

  67. 67.

    The full text can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-data-charter/g8-open-data-charter-and-technical-annex.

  68. 68.

    Until the First Eastern Partnership Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy, the relevant EU Directive 2003/98/EC on the reuse of public sector information was only mentioned in Annex XXVIII-B EU-Moldova AA–without any plausible relation to the text and the commitments under this Agreement.

  69. 69.

    The DAE is one of the flagship initiative of the Europe 2020 strategy due to the recognition of the key role that ICT will play in the future of the European economy and society. See Communication from the Commission. Europe 2020–a strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, COM(2010) 2020 final of 03.03.2010.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany

    Olga Batura

  2. European Humanities University, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Olga Batura

  3. University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Tatjana Evas

  4. Tallinn Law School, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Tatjana Evas

Authors
  1. Olga Batura
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  2. Tatjana Evas
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Correspondence to Olga Batura .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tallinn Law School, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Tanel Kerikmäe

  2. Tallinn Law School, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Archil Chochia

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Batura, O., Evas, T. (2016). Information Society Goes East: ICT Policy in the EU’s Eastern Partnership Cooperation Framework. In: Kerikmäe, T., Chochia, A. (eds) Political and Legal Perspectives of the EU Eastern Partnership Policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27383-9_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27383-9_4

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