[1] The EaP is intended to provide a forum for discussions regarding trade, economic strategy, travel agreements, and other issues between the EU and its Eastern European neighbours.

[8] In May 2008, Poland and Sweden put forward a joint proposal for an Eastern Partnership with Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, with Russia and Belarus participating in some aspects.

We have to use this time to prepare as much as possible so that when the fatigue passes, membership becomes something natural"[9] It was discussed at the European Council on 19 and 20 June 2008, along with the Union for the Mediterranean.

[16] The Eastern Partnership is a forum aiming to improve the political and economic trade-relations of the six Post-Soviet states of "strategic importance" – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine with the European Union.

[13] Promotion of human rights and rule of law in former Soviet states has been reported to form the "core" of the policy of the Eastern Partnership.

[17] The EU draft of the EaP states that: "Shared values including democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights will be at its core, as well as the principles of market economy, sustainable development and good governance."

The Partnership is to provide the foundation for new Association Agreements between the EU and those partners who have made sufficient progress towards the principles and values mentioned.

[19] There are plans to model the concept on the Stabilisation and Association Process used by the EU in the Balkans, including a possible free trade area encompassing the countries in the region, similar to BAFTA or CEFTA.

[20] The key focus of the EU engagement within the Eastern Partnership includes the achievement of tangible results for the citizens in the partner countries.

The Assembly gathers once a year, meeting locations alternate between an Eastern Partnership country and one of the European Parliament places of work (Brussels, Luxembourg or Strasbourg).

In December 2019, following the eighth Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, a resolution was passed by all members outlining various EU integration goals to be achieved by 2030.

[28][29] Yet, the Eastern Partnership documents (the European Council Declaration of May 2009)[30] do not confirm such priorities as political and economic integration or lifting visas.

Ukraine deputy premier Hryhoriy Nemyria said that the project is the way to modernise the country and that they welcome the Eastern Partnership policy, because it uses 'de facto' the same instruments as for EU candidates.

[31] Under the Eastern Partnership, Poland and Ukraine have reached a new agreement replacing visas with simplified permits for Ukrainians residing within 30 km of the border.

However a few days later Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia does not rule out joining the EU's Eastern Partnership programme.

[39] The EaP CSF consists of six national platforms and five thematic working groups, which are represented by an annually elected Steering Committee composed of 13 members.

The last EaP CSF Civil Society Summit meeting – which continued the tradition of its preceding 16 Annual Assemblies - took place in Vienna in November 2024.

As a result, some scholars have attributed a socialisation function to the Forum, whereby norms sponsored by the European Union are internalised by participating civil society organisations.

Secondly, empirically, the EU seems to favour a 'top-down' governance approach (based on rule/norm transfer and conditionality) in its relations with outsiders, which is clearly at odds with a voluntary idea of 'partnership', and explicitly limits the input of 'the other' in the process of reform.