Regional cooperation brings together Eastern Partnership countries in tackling shared challenges and pursuing common goals. It is guided by the following objectives:
- Promoting competitive, sustainable and integrated economies, including human capital development
- Strengthening good governance, the rule of law, reconciliation and security
- Advancing sustainable energy, environmental and climate resilience
- Improving connectivity and digital transformation
- Fostering resilient, gender-equal, fair and inclusive societies
- Supporting EU regional policies
Regional cooperation is tailored to the specific needs and challenges of partner countries and the wider Neighbourhood East region. It facilitates the exchange of information, best practices and lessons learned. It also provides information on the EU acquis and promotes reforms, while enhancing the capacity of partner countries and civil society in areas such as human rights, democracy, the rule of law, gender equality, transport, digital, energy, environment, education, health, youth, culture and more.
Key ongoing regional programmes include EU4Business, EU4Environment, EU4Digital, EU4Innovation, EU4Energy, EU4Youth and EU4Gender Equality.
EU’s strategic approach to the Black Sea region
Regional cooperation under the Eastern Partnership contributes to the implementation of the EU’s strategic approach to the Black Sea region, adopted in May 2025. This strategy strengthens cooperation with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, as well as with Türkiye, through three key pillars and three flagship initiatives:
- Security, stability and resilience – flagship: establishing a Black Sea Maritime Security Hub to strengthen maritime safety, demining cooperation, and environmental protection.
- Sustainable growth and prosperity – flagship: developing connectivity links in the Black Sea aligned with the Trans-European Networks as part of a broader Connectivity Agenda to boost transport, energy and digital links, and connecting Europe with Central Asia via the South Caucasus.
- Environmental protection, climate change resilience and preparedness, and civil protection – flagship: supporting coastal communities and the blue economy to address war-related environmental damage, improve climate preparedness and seize green growth opportunities.
These flagships contribute to the Global Gateway Strategy and can be implemented through a Team Europe approach, bringing together EU institutions, EU Member States, and International Financial Institutions to drive sustainable regional development.
Cross-Regional Connectivity Agenda
The Cross-Regional Connectivity Agenda aims to strengthen trade, transport, energy and digital links between Europe and Central Asia, via Türkiye and South Caucasus countries.
This strategic engagement reflects the EU’s commitment to forging partnerships and advancing cross-regional cooperation with its neighbours and key partners to tackle shared challenges and leverage emerging opportunities. Such engagement will ultimately strengthen collective resilience and foster socio-economic growth.
Working with civil society
In 2023, the European Commission’s DG ENEST (then DG NEAR) signed the second cycle (2023-2027) of Framework Partnership Agreements (FPAs) with ten international civil society organisations (CSOs) active in the Eastern Partnership.
These agreements strengthen the role of CSOs as governance actors, increasing their capacities and resilience in the region and reinforcing their role in democratisation and reform processes.
Funding and instruments for regional cooperation
For the period 2021-2027, the main source of funding for regional cooperation is the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe (NDICI-GE). It replaced the 2014-2020 European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI), which remains operational today.
Regional cooperation is complemented by other EU programmes and instruments, including Erasmus+ and the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), which further strengthen regional links and create opportunities for citizens and businesses.