Mário David continued: "We must make it very clear that there will be much closer ties between the EU and the new democracies in the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean, with a permanent cooperation not only with the relevant authorities but also with civil society and local authorities, in a bottom-up approach."

"With these new proposals, we hope the Commission will enshrine the intangible defence of the common values that we share, which are the bases of our Union, and that an effective new and ambitious approach to the Neighbourhood Policy arises for the upcoming decades", said the Portuguese MEP.

Marietta Giannakou MEP, EPP Group Spokeswoman for the ENP - Eastern Dimension, stressed the need for a long-term strategic vision for the development and stabilisation of the region for the next years. The promotion and respect of democracy, the rule of law, human rights, protection of minorities and the fight against corruption should be the crucial measures in order to measure the performance of this strategy.

"Any violation of these principles must have a direct effect on the conditionality clause. The recent uprisings in our neighbourhood remind us that we have to set clearly defined priorities in advance. Of course, any kind of assessment should not be applied in a horizontal and thus unfair way. We need differentiation. Each country should be treated according to its efforts and compliance to the EU values", concluded Mrs Giannakou.

For further information:

Mário DAVID MEP, Tel: +33-3-88-175143

Marietta GIANNAKOU MEP, Tel: +33-3-88-175182

Sandra Carreira, EPP Group Press & Communications Service, Tel: +33-3-88-172118

Theodoros Georgitsopoulos, EPP Group Press & Communications Service, Tel: +32-475-750566

The EPP Group is by far the largest political group in the European Parliament with 265 Members.

Source: EPP Group in the European Parliament.