BETA


2023/2106(INI) EU strategy on Central Asia

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead AFET LUCKE Karsten (icon: S&D S&D) KUBILIUS Andrius (icon: EPP EPP), GROŠELJ Klemen (icon: Renew Renew), VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL Viola (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), MARIANI Thierry (icon: ID ID)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54

Events

2024/01/17
   EP - Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
Documents
2024/01/17
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Documents
2023/12/06
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details

The Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted the own-initiative report by Karsten LUCKE (S&D, DE) on the EU strategy on Central Asia.

Since the adoption of the EU strategy on Central Asia in 2019, the region has been affected by significant external factors, such as Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy.

EU engagement with Central Asia

Members underlined that the EU and Central Asia are facing profound global and regional geopolitical shifts and challenges, which provide significant impetus for them to work towards long-term, structured and mutually beneficial cooperation in matters of common interest. They strongly encouraged the EU to intensify its engagement with Central Asia, given the geostrategic importance of the region, and to promote a strategic partnership with these countries by expanding cooperation at political and economic level. The report encouraged the EU to continue promoting political and economic reforms that strengthen the rule of law, democracy, good governance and respect for human rights. Members noted that Parliament is ready to promote parliamentary cooperation with Central Asia. They also considered that a review of the EU-Central Asia strategy is necessary in order to update it in the light of the geopolitical events that have taken place in recent years.

Regional cooperation

The report underlined the great potential of mutually beneficial cooperation on sustainable development, connectivity, energy, critical raw materials and security, with Central Asia being a key region for connectivity between East and West. The Commission is called on to investigate the possibility of the European Investment Bank’s support for investments in infrastructure development in Central Asian states, especially in the Middle Corridor.

Members are concerned with the creation of dependency on Russia as a result of the signing of the natural gas deal between Gazprom and Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan.

Noting the increasing strain on water resources in Central Asia, the report stressed the need for closer regional cooperation on this matter between upstream and downstream countries in order to prevent conflicts over the distribution and use of water resources.

The report underlined the importance of the delimitation and demarcation of disputed border areas between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to prevent further military clashes between the two countries and welcomed the steps taken by both sides in this regard.

Democracy and human rights

Members insisted that respect for human rights and compliance with international obligations are important for the EU’s relations with Central Asia. They urged the Central Asian states to adhere to their democracy and human rights obligations. They are also concerned about the lack of accountability for serious human rights violations on a large scale, including the employment of harsh measures by authorities to end mass protests.

Moreover, the report noted the need to boost Central Asia’s resilience against disinformation by promoting independent media and content in local languages, increasing media literacy and organising targeted courses for local journalists. It stressed the need to strengthen media independence and pluralism and freedom of expression in Central Asia in line with the highest democratic standards.

Documents
2023/11/28
   EP - Vote in committee
2023/10/11
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2023/09/14
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2023/07/18
   EP - LUCKE Karsten (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in AFET
2023/07/12
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament

Documents

Votes

A9-0407/2023 – Karsten Lucke – Motion for a resolution (text as a whole) #

2024/01/17 Outcome: +: 543, 0: 44, -: 42
DE IT ES PL FR RO NL SE HU CZ PT SK DK BE BG AT FI EL SI IE LT HR EE MT LU CY LV
Total
86
66
56
46
72
26
24
20
17
21
18
14
14
20
12
15
13
20
8
13
8
12
7
5
5
6
5
icon: PPE PPE
157

Hungary PPE

1

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1

Malta PPE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg PPE

2

Cyprus PPE

2

Latvia PPE

2
icon: S&D S&D
124

Czechia S&D

For (1)

1

Slovakia S&D

For (1)

1

Belgium S&D

2

Bulgaria S&D

2

Greece S&D

1

Slovenia S&D

2

Lithuania S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Cyprus S&D

2
icon: Renew Renew
97

Italy Renew

2

Poland Renew

1
3

Hungary Renew

2

Austria Renew

For (1)

1

Finland Renew

3

Greece Renew

1

Slovenia Renew

2

Ireland Renew

2

Lithuania Renew

1

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Estonia Renew

3

Luxembourg Renew

For (1)

1

Latvia Renew

For (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
64

Italy Verts/ALE

Against (1)

3

Spain Verts/ALE

3

Poland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Lithuania Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
57

Netherlands ECR

4

Sweden ECR

For (1)

3

Slovakia ECR

For (1)

1

Belgium ECR

2

Bulgaria ECR

2

Finland ECR

Abstain (1)

1

Greece ECR

1

Croatia ECR

Against (1)

1

Latvia ECR

For (1)

1
icon: NI NI
44

Germany NI

For (1)

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

3

France NI

Abstain (1)

4

Czechia NI

Against (1)

1

Belgium NI

For (1)

1

Croatia NI

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Latvia NI

Against (1)

1
icon: The Left The Left
34

Spain The Left

Against (1)

4

Netherlands The Left

For (1)

1

Sweden The Left

For (1)

1

Czechia The Left

Abstain (1)

1

Portugal The Left

Against (1)

3

Denmark The Left

1

Belgium The Left

Against (1)

1

Finland The Left

For (1)

1

Ireland The Left

For (1)

Against (2)

Abstain (1)

4

Cyprus The Left

2
icon: ID ID
52

Czechia ID

Against (1)

1

Denmark ID

Abstain (1)

1

Austria ID

3

Estonia ID

Abstain (1)

1
AmendmentsDossier
124 2023/2106(INI)
2023/10/11 AFET 124 amendments...
source: 754.712

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

docs/2
date
2024-01-17T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0027_EN.html title: T9-0027/2024
type
Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
body
EP
docs/2
date
2023-12-06T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2023-0407_EN.html title: A9-0407/2023
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
body
EP
events/2/summary
  • The Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted the own-initiative report by Karsten LUCKE (S&D, DE) on the EU strategy on Central Asia.
  • Since the adoption of the EU strategy on Central Asia in 2019, the region has been affected by significant external factors, such as Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and China’s increasingly assertive foreign policy.
  • EU engagement with Central Asia
  • Members underlined that the EU and Central Asia are facing profound global and regional geopolitical shifts and challenges, which provide significant impetus for them to work towards long-term, structured and mutually beneficial cooperation in matters of common interest. They strongly encouraged the EU to intensify its engagement with Central Asia, given the geostrategic importance of the region, and to promote a strategic partnership with these countries by expanding cooperation at political and economic level. The report encouraged the EU to continue promoting political and economic reforms that strengthen the rule of law, democracy, good governance and respect for human rights. Members noted that Parliament is ready to promote parliamentary cooperation with Central Asia. They also considered that a review of the EU-Central Asia strategy is necessary in order to update it in the light of the geopolitical events that have taken place in recent years.
  • Regional cooperation
  • The report underlined the great potential of mutually beneficial cooperation on sustainable development, connectivity, energy, critical raw materials and security, with Central Asia being a key region for connectivity between East and West. The Commission is called on to investigate the possibility of the European Investment Bank’s support for investments in infrastructure development in Central Asian states, especially in the Middle Corridor.
  • Members are concerned with the creation of dependency on Russia as a result of the signing of the natural gas deal between Gazprom and Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan.
  • Noting the increasing strain on water resources in Central Asia, the report stressed the need for closer regional cooperation on this matter between upstream and downstream countries in order to prevent conflicts over the distribution and use of water resources.
  • The report underlined the importance of the delimitation and demarcation of disputed border areas between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to prevent further military clashes between the two countries and welcomed the steps taken by both sides in this regard.
  • Democracy and human rights
  • Members insisted that respect for human rights and compliance with international obligations are important for the EU’s relations with Central Asia. They urged the Central Asian states to adhere to their democracy and human rights obligations. They are also concerned about the lack of accountability for serious human rights violations on a large scale, including the employment of harsh measures by authorities to end mass protests.
  • Moreover, the report noted the need to boost Central Asia’s resilience against disinformation by promoting independent media and content in local languages, increasing media literacy and organising targeted courses for local journalists. It stressed the need to strengthen media independence and pluralism and freedom of expression in Central Asia in line with the highest democratic standards.
events/3
date
2024-01-17T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0027_EN.html title: T9-0027/2024
forecasts
  • date: 2024-01-15T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting Parliament's vote
New
Procedure completed
docs/2
date
2023-12-06T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2023-0407_EN.html title: A9-0407/2023
type
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
body
EP
events/2/docs
  • url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2023-0407_EN.html title: A9-0407/2023
events/1
date
2023-11-28T00:00:00
type
Vote in committee
body
EP
events/2
date
2023-12-06T00:00:00
type
Committee report tabled for plenary
body
EP
procedure/Other legal basis
Rules of Procedure EP 159
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting committee decision
New
Awaiting Parliament's vote
forecasts/0
date
2023-11-28T00:00:00
title
Vote scheduled in committee
docs/1
date
2023-10-11T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/AFET-AM-754712_EN.html title: PE754.712
type
Amendments tabled in committee
body
EP
forecasts/1
date
2024-01-15T00:00:00
title
Indicative plenary sitting date
docs
  • date: 2023-09-14T00:00:00 docs: url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/AFET-PR-752889_EN.html title: PE752.889 type: Committee draft report body: EP
committees/0/shadows
  • name: KUBILIUS Andrius group: Group of European People's Party abbr: EPP
  • name: GROŠELJ Klemen group: Renew Europe group abbr: Renew
  • name: VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL Viola group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance abbr: Verts/ALE
  • name: MARIANI Thierry group: Identity and Democracy abbr: ID
committees/0/rapporteur
  • name: LUCKE Karsten date: 2023-07-18T00:00:00 group: Group of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats abbr: S&D
forecasts
  • date: 2023-11-28T00:00:00 title: Vote scheduled in committee
events
  • date: 2023-07-12T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament body: EP
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
  • AFET/9/12573
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Preparatory phase in Parliament
New
Awaiting committee decision