DEVELOPMENT OF EU

We supported the multi-ethnic fabric of Macedonia through continued insistence on the full implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement. We encourage all political parties to adhere to its spirit, in particular in the areas of: language, education, decentralization of budgets, interethnic relations and religion. The UKs public administration effectiveness project enables more transparent and effective management within the civil service, including on recruitment of minorities under the provisions of the Framework Agreement. Our work in Albania Has focused on transparency, democracy and equality. We have funded a high-level mentoring project which works closely with judges to improve the efficiency and transparency of the Albanian Supreme Court. We also pushed for a settlement to the long-standing political impasse between the government and the opposition. In addition, we worked with the British Council to promote diversity and equality in Albania. The London 2012Diversity Champion David Morris visited Albania in 2010, and the Embassy will again support the British Councils Inclusion Week in April 2011. Our support has helped the Inclusion Week to achieve a markedly higher profile for disability issues in Albania, as demonstrated by an unprecedentedpublicrally of disabled peoples groups in Tirana as well as action from the Tirana authorities to improve wheelchair access across the city. We continued to support Turkey S EU accession process and strongly encouraged them to make progress with their reform agenda. The September Constitutional Reform referendum was a positive step and demonstrated wide support for judicial and military reform. We will continue to emphasize to the Turkish government the importance of swift and effective implementation of the reform package. Turkey has made progress in certain areas of human rights, but there is more work to be done before it meets EU standards, particularly on freedom of expression and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. We supporter keys efforts to address these issues and in 2010 we agreed to fund the largest ever number of human rights projects across the widest ever range of Issues in Turkey, including on LGBT, children, women and disability, and helping refugees and asylum seekers better understand their rights and access legal remedies. The year 2011 promises to be an important year for Turkey. Several key pieces of legislation have been drafted and will pass-through the Turkish parliament, including on anti-discrimination, data protection and human rights. There is a parliamentary election in June, and should the current government retain power it has announced it will draft a new constitution. This would give renewed impetus to Turkeys reform programme. We will continue to encourage the government of Turkey to make progress towards EU standards. The European Neighborhood Policy The European Neighborhood Policy is the EUs main framework for engaging with the 16 countries which share its borders to the east and south. Human rights and democracy are a central part of the policy. EU funding to support reform in the neighborhood is approximately 12 billion for 20072013.Each year, the EU and partner countries agree action plans which detail reforms in democratization, human rights and the rule of law. Progress under each action plan is monitored through sub-committees. Progress reports are published annually. The second round of the EUArmeniahuman rights dialogue took place on 7December. This provided an opportunity for the EU to reiterate to

Armenia The importance of human rights as an essential element for Armenia development into a fully democratic society. On 15 June the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media commented that amendments to the law on television and radio broadcasting in Armenia were not sufficient to improve media pluralism. The EU encouraged the Armenian government and legislators to continue to work closely with civil society, the Council of Europe and OSCE experts to ensure that its

Broadcasting law promotes media freedom and is in line with international standards. In March, the OSCEs Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights issued its report on the conduct of the trials that took place in the aftermath of the March 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan. The report revealed shortcomings in Armenia's justice system and made a number of recommendations. It is important that the Armenian government implements these recommendations as part of its judicial reform programme. Although Armenia has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its principles are addressed in the constitution, women continue to suffer significant discrimination in economic and political life. On 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the EU announced the launch of 10 new human rights and democracy projects including one that aims to reduce gender -based domestic violence in Armenia. In Azerbaijan, EU member states continued to express concern about the restrictions to freedom of assembly, including in the run-up to the November parliamentary elections. The High Representative shared the concern of the OSCEs Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights that the conduct of the elections was insufficient to constitute meaningful progress in the democratic development of the country and called on the Azerbaijani authorities to address these shortcomings. In November the EU welcomed the release of the youth activist bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada, but expressed concern over Azerbaijanis reluctance to implement the European Court for Human Rights judgment on Eynulla Fatullayevs conviction for alleged terrorism. Association Agreement negotiations between the EU and Armenia and Azerbaijan were launched in July. The first EUAzerbaijan Subcommittee onJustice, Freedom, Security and Human Rights and Democracy took place between 30 November and 1 December.