One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, how did Eastern Partnership countries experience its disruptive effect pervasive across various aspects of life and policy? The EaP CSF Policy Papers Series on the effects of COVID-19 offers a well-researched perspective over several thematic areas ranging from media freedom and digital literacy to labour migration and waste management. Together with the EU and EaP stakeholders, strategists, civil society and media we invite you to participate in our public discussion – In Search for COVID-19 Silver Lining: Opportunities and policy solutions to be harnessed in the EaP region – to take place online on 14 – 15 April. 

Developed over the last 6 months as part of the #PrepareEaP4Health campaign, the current series of EaP CSF policy papers looks into the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and its potential for change on several thematic areas across the six countries of the Eastern Partnership.

Covering essential questions that may have had a different answer – unless irreversibly disrupted by the current pandemic’s staggering effects – our thematic analysis provides feasible policy recommendations for the EaP governments and EU decision-makers. At the same time, it can serve as guidelines for civil society, media, businesses, and other sectors involved in the reform process in the EaP. To this end, the papers also assess the EaP 2020 deliverables from a cross-sectoral perspective.

The Launch Event consists of 3 panels, bringing together authors, experts and stakeholders both on stage and in the audience. It aims at highlighting the silver linings that the pandemic presents – opportunities and policy solutions – that should and could be harnessed in the Eastern Partnership during and beyond the pandemic.

14 April, 2021

Panel 1: What are the silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic in the EaP region? 

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14.00 – 15.30 CET

The panel will feature the Framework Policy Paper which sums up main regional and thematic trends from seven papers and provides an overarching regional and country-focused policy recommendations and solutions that can be incorporated into the EaP roadmap for the period of 2021-2025. The discussion will be illustrated with case studies, examples, and good practices from the region as well as from additional policy areas.

Which trends in responding to the major crisis can be identified across the EaP countries? How to maximize the synergy effect of future policy solutions based on the experience from this crisis? In which areas can the COVID-19 impact effectively boost the modernization and reforms in the EaP countries?  

Opening Remarks:

Natalia Yerashevich, Director of the EaP CSF Secretariat

Speakers:

Ruslan Zheckov, Co-author of the EaP CSF Framework Policy Paper, senior consultant in green and circular economy

Lawrence Meredith, Director for Neighbourhood East and Institution Building in the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), European Commission

Pavel Havlíček, Research Fellow at the Research Centre, Association for International Affairs, Czech Republic

Veronika Movchan, Academic Director, Head of the Center for Economic Studies, IER, Ukraine

Moderator:

Věra Řiháčková Pachta, Advocacy Manager, EaP CSF Secretariat

15 April 2021

Panel 2 – Impact of COVID-19 on Green Deal implementation in the EaP – Waste and water management during a pandemic

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 Panel 2: Impact of COVID-19 on Green Deal implementation in the EaP – Waste and water management during a pandemic

10:00 – 11:15

The second panel will look at the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for the implementation of the ambitious Green Deal agenda in the EaP countries. It will explore in more detail the peculiarities of the water and waste management sectors.

What experiences have to be taken into account as the pandemic is not over for designing the implementation of the Green Deal in the EaP countries? Which opportunities this crisis brought about for boosting the implementation of reforms in the specific area of waste and water management and how these lessons learned can spur the transition to circular economy and new opportunities for economic development in the EaP countries? 

Speakers:

Alex Patonia, Co-author of the paper “Waste and water management in the time of Covid 19: A tale of six countries”, visiting research fellow, the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

Krzysztof Michalak, Senior Programme Manager, Green Growth and Global Relations Division, Environment Directorate, OECD

Michael Rupp, Team Leader DG NEAR, European Commission

Inga Zarafyan, President, EcoLur, Armenia

Moderator:

Ina Coseru, Head of the National Environmental Center, Moldova

15 April 2021

Panel 3: Media freedom and digital literacy during and beyond COVID-19 pandemic in the EaP region

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Panel 3: Media freedom and digital literacy during and beyond COVID-19 pandemic in the EaP region

1400 – 15:15

The third panel showcases the intertwined findings provided by two policy papers “Freedom of speech and media in the COVID-19 context” and “Digital literacy in EaP countries”. The need for independent scrutiny, access to information and digital literacy of the citizens in order to find, analyse and understand information, has become even more urgent in times of pandemic when governments’ action or inaction can save or endanger lives.

How to ensure open debates in the EaP societies on the burning issues including the solution-oriented response to major public health crisis? How to address the systemic deficiencies linked to great extent to the quality of democracy that have manifested themselves with even greater clarity during the pandemic in the domains of freedom of speech, media landscape and digital literacy of the EaP population?

Speakers:        

Tinatin Akhvlediani, Author of the EaP CSF policy paper “Digital literacy in times of the COVID-19 in the EaP countries”, researcher, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

Moritz Höpner, Co-author of the EaP CSF policy paper “Freedom of speech and media plurality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic”, Research and Development Specialist at the University of Luxembourg

Petras Auštrevičius, Member of the European Parliament, Renew Europe Group

Volha Siakhovich, Legal expert, Belarusian Association of Journalists

Moderator:    

Dmytro Khutkyy, Policy and Advocacy Advisor, European Digital Development Alliance

COVID-19 Policy Papers

About the papers

Developed over the last 6 months as part of the #PrepareEaP4Health campaign, the current series of EaP CSF policy papers looks into the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and its potential for change on several thematic areas across the six countries of the Eastern Partnership.

The thematic and the framework policy papers are aimed at delivering feasible policy recommendations for the EaP governments and EU decision-makers and providing guidelines for civil society, media, businesses, and other sectors. To this end, the papers also assess the EaP 2020 deliverables from a cross-sectoral perspective.

All publications were produced with the financial support of the European Union. Their contents are the sole responsibility of Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Contact us

Calum Robert Thomson

Administrative and Statutory Processes Manager
Email: calum.thomson@eap-csf.eu
Tel: +32 2 893 25 86