Source description last updated: 25 May 2020

In brief: The European Commission is the European Union (EU)’s independent political arm. It is responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation and implementing decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. It is headquartered in Brussels.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Country reports issued within the framework of EU Enlargement; Country reports published as part of European Neighbourhood Policy

Covered monthly on ecoi.net for countries of priorities A–E (all available countries).

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

Within the framework of EU enlargement policy, “[t]he European Commission, at the request of the European Council, assesses the applicant’s ability to meet the conditions of membership” (EEAS website: EU enlargement, 17 May 2016). To this end, the Commission produces annual country reports that provide an “assessment of the state of play in each candidate country and potential candidate, what has been achieved over the last year, and set out guidelines on reform priorities.” (European Commission website: European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations: Strategy and Reports, undated)

“Through its European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which was revised in 2015, the EU works with its Southern and Eastern Neighbours to foster stabilisation, security and prosperity” (EEAS website: European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), 21 December 2016). The revised ENP has significantly increased its focus on security matters, amongst others (European Commission website: Revised European Neighbourhood Policy: supporting stabilisation, resilience, security, 18 May 2017). “Once a year, the European Commission and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy publish [country] reports assessing the progress made towards the objectives of the Action Plans and the Association Agendas” (EEAS website: ENP Progress reports, 18 August 2015).

Funding:

EU budget

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus:

Reports published as part of EU enlargement policy cover current candidates for EU accession (EEAS website: EU enlargement, 17 May 2016).

ENP progress reports have covered Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Republic of Moldova, Morocco, Syria, Palestine, Tunisia and Ukraine (EEAS website: European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), 21 December 2016).

Thematic focus:

Country reports published as part of EU Enlargement Policy deal with a variety of issues, including: democratic institutions and public administration; rule of law and fundamental rights; justice, freedom and security; economy (see, for example, European Commission: Albania 2019 Report, 29 May 2019)

Topics covered in the ENP country reports include the following: democracy, human rights and good governance; foreign and security policy; justice, freedom and security; economic development (see, for example, European Commission: Association Implementation Report on Georgia, 30 January 2019)

Methodology:

Country reports published as part of EU Enlargement Policy summarise recent developments in each subject area being assessed. They may be based on a variety of sources, including information provided by the relevant country’s government, “contributions from the EU Member States, European Parliament reports, and information from various international and non-governmental organisations” (see, for example, European Commission: Albania 2019 Report, 29 May 2019, p. 3). Most sources are not referenced by means of footnotes or endnotes etc., although sources may occasionally be mentioned in the body of the text (see, for example, European Commission: Albania 2019 Report, 29 May 2019 and European Commission: Analytical Report (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 29 May 2019).

Country reports published within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy provide an overview of recent developments areas covered by association agreements. They may contain footnotes with references to local legislation as well as reports by NGOs, think tanks and international organisations (see, for example, European Commission: Association Implementation Report on Georgia, 30 January 2019) and European Commission: Report on EU-Armenia relations in the framework of the revised ENP, 4 June 2018).

Languages of publication:

English and French

All links accessed 25 May 2020