ENPI negotiations between European Commission and Russia/Belarus on schedule

According to information from the European Commission, Directorate General for Aid Coordination (DG AidCo), the negotiations between the European Commission and Russia, as well as Belarus about the signing of the cross-border cooperation's (CBC) Financing Agreements are proceeding according to schedule. For the Baltic Sea Region Programme, bilateral agreements need to be signed before 31 December 2008 to make the European Union's funds of 22.6 million EUR from the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) accessible.

Last week, a delegation of Russian officials including the Vice Minister for Regional Development, held talks in Brussels. It was reported that the most difficult questions are related to the audit and control of the ENPI funds. Still, no queries were raised about keeping the timetable as planned. Also negotiations with Belarus were reported to progress in a positive way.

It was further noted that the negotiations between the European Commission and Russian Federation on the general partnership agreement does not have any formal relation to the CBC programmes or their specific Financing Agreements.