EU and Israel reach "neighborhood agreement"

Almost a year after the EU absorbed 10 new members, the Union endorsed at the beginning of December the "European Neighborhood" accords with seven of its neighbors.
 
A spokesman for the EU emphasized that the "European Neighborhood" accords which was signed with Israel, Jordan, Moldova, Ukraine, Morocco, Tunisia and the Palestinian Authority is aimed at making Europe more secure by bringing stability and prosperity to the regions. The agreements will, according to the EU, create "a ring of friends around the borders of our enlarged EU".
 
The accord offers far-reaching trade and cooperation benefits but no prospect of membership in the EU. The EU plans to sign "neighborhood" accords, during 2005, with four more countries: Egypt, Georgia, Armenia, Lebanon and Azerbaijan.
 
Once the accord is implemented, Israel can look forward to better access to the EU market for its exports.
 
The neighborhood accords also contain a section in which the EU's neighbors agree to combat illegal immigration, terrorism, organized crime and commit to the nonproliferation of weapons and mass destruction, the rule of law, human rights and good governance.
 
Politically the EU-Israel "neighborhood agreement" also means that "Israel clearly acknowledges the role of the EU in the Quartet" that has written the "road map" to a peace plan that is to lead to a Palestinian independent state.