The Partnership Instrument (PI) is the main innovative instrument in the European Union's external action package. The PI promotes EU's fundamental values and strategic interests. It supports measures that respond effectively to the objectives arising from bilateral, regional or multilateral relations between the EU and particular third countries and approaches challenges of global interest, ensuring an appropriate monitoring of the decisions taken in multilateral level.
PI finances activities according to the EU's agenda with partner countries, translating political compromises into concrete measures. This financing toll supports the EU's external dimension of internal policies – in areas such as competition, research and innovation, migration – and it helps facing the key global challenges, such as energy security, climate change and environment protection.
PI also addresses specific aspects of EU's economic diplomacy, with the aim of improving access to third country markets, increasing trade, investment and business opportunities for European companies. It supports public diplomacy, academic cooperation and outreach activities to promote the values and interests of the Union.
In this way, the PI allows the EU to develop a comprehensive political dialogue with partner countries, in particular the emerging market economies and the ones which are not eligible for bilateral aid for development. Its global reach and flexibility are essential elements to enable EU's response to key global challenges.
The measures to be financed under the Partnership Instrument reflect the following specific Union objectives:
- supporting the Union's bilateral, regional and inter-regional cooperation partnership strategies by promoting policy dialogue and by developing collective approaches and responses to challenges of global concern. The attainment of that objective shall be measured, inter alia, by the progress made by key partner countries in the fight against climate change or in promoting the environmental standards of the Union;
- implementing the international dimension of ‘Europe 2020’. The attainment of that objective shall be measured by the uptake of the ‘Europe 2020’ policies and objectives by key partner countries;
- improving access to partner country markets and boosting trade, investment and business opportunities for companies from the Union, while eliminating barriers to market access and investment, by means of economic partnerships, business and regulatory cooperation. The attainment of that objective shall be measured by the Union's share in foreign trade with key partner countries and by trade and investment flows to partner countries specifically targeted by actions, programmes and measures under this Regulation;
- enhancing widespread understanding and visibility of the Union and of its role on the world scene by means of public diplomacy, people-to-people contacts, cooperation in educational and academic matters, think tank cooperation and outreach activities to promote the Union's values and interests. The attainment of that objective may be measured, inter alia, by opinion surveys or evaluations.
Budget
The 2014-2020 PI budget amounts to € 954.8 million euros to fund activities in any non-EU country, with emphasis on partner countries of strategic interest to the EU.
PI in Brazil
In Brazil, the main topics developed by PI are: Public Diplomacy; Climate & Energy & Urbanization; Sustainable Environment/Water Diplomacy; Corporate Responsibility, Digital Single Market; Migration and Mobility; Transportation/Civil Aviation and FTAS/Market Access.
General background on IcSP
As the Partnership instrument, the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP) is also an instrument of political nature, enabling the EU to respond to crises in an effective and timely manner to help preserve, establish or re-establish the conditions essential to the proper implementation of EU external policies (art.3 IcSP Regulation). It is often – apart from humanitarian aid – the EU’s instrument of first response. By its very nature, Art.3 interventions respond to crisis or emerging crisis, be it country related or of a regional scope. As such, they are non-programmable and can respond to a strictly short-term logic, although they must be coordinated in both the design and execution phases with actions funded by the EU’s other financing instruments (both short term – ECHO – or long term – DEVCO/NEAR).
Through IcSP interventions under art.4, the EU aims at preventing conflicts and ensuring capacity and preparedness to address pre- and post-crisis situations and build peace. These actions are foreseen in selected countries/regions to support peacebuilding and conflict prevention actions implemented by civil society organisations. They are programmable, with an average duration of three years, and respond to the following five priorities: early warning and conflict sensitive risk analysis; confidence building, dialogue, mediation and reconciliation; capacity building for stabilisation missions; post conflict and post disaster recovery; and curbing the use of natural resources to finance conflicts. At the moment, Art.4 interventions in Latin America are limited to Venezuela, Central America and Haiti.
Its global reach is one of the main characteristics of the IcSP. Interventions can take place anywhere in the world outside the EU and do not require any formal approval by the host country, but the positive assessment and involvement of the local EU Delegation is absolutely essential. Most actions are in Africa and the Middle East (around 70% of ongoing projects), but we also have significant interventions in Latin America managed by the RT in Brasilia.
