Joint Proposal for a Council Decision on the Union position with regard to the adoption of a Recommendation on the implementation of the second EU-Lebanon ENP Action Plan

Lebanon and the European Community first established contractual relations in 1965 by signing a Trade and Technical Cooperation Agreement. Both the 2002 Association Agreement (which entered into force on 1 April 2006) and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Action Plan, adopted in 2007 for a period of five years, contributed significantly in developing the bilateral relations. Over the years, cooperation between Lebanon and the European Union has been good and grown closer, leading to a strong and constructive partnership.

Within this framework, EU-Lebanon relations have recently intensified, with a number of working meetings of Subcommittees, resumption of the activities of the Association Committee, and most recently the Association Council meeting in October 2012. Through active participation and fruitful exchanges, Lebanon has confirmed its determination to be a strong partner within the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). On the EU side, the Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions of July 2012 reaffirmed the importance the EU attaches to strengthening its partnership with Lebanon in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy.

The validity of the first EU-Lebanon ENP Action Plan expired in January 2012 and was extended for a period of one year or until a new Action Plan is adopted. The European External Action Service engaged in exploratory contacts with Lebanon in the spring of 2012. They were followed by drafting of the new Action Plan in close cooperation with Commission services and Member States in several rounds of consultations, leading to a draft prepared for negotiations. After a negotiation round in Beirut in August 2012, the draft was further amended in cooperation with Commission and Member States partners. In the aftermath of the Association Council in October 2012, the EU and Lebanon reached a political agreement on the draft, subject to outstanding procedures.

This second Action Plan clearly outlines the priority objectives for EU-Lebanon partnership and elaborates specific benchmarks, indicators, timelines and possible EU interventions for each of them.

EUR-Lex: JOIN(2013)014: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=JOIN:2013:014:FIN

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