
Article 1 

1. This Regulation establishes a Partnership Instrument for cooperation with third countries (the ‘Partnership Instrument’) to advance and promote Union and mutual interests. The Partnership Instrument shall support measures that respond in an effective and flexible manner to objectives arising from the Union's bilateral, regional or multilateral relationships with third countries and shall address challenges of global concern and ensure an adequate follow-up to decisions taken at a multilateral level.
2. The measures to be financed under the Partnership Instrument shall reflect the following specific Union objectives:
(a) supporting the Union's bilateral, regional and inter-regional cooperation partnership strategies by promoting policy dialogue and by developing collective approaches and responses to challenges of global concern. The attainment of that objective shall be measured, inter alia, by the progress made by key partner countries in the fight against climate change or in promoting the environmental standards of the Union;
(b) implementing the international dimension of ‘Europe 2020’. The attainment of that objective shall be measured by the uptake of the ‘Europe 2020’ policies and objectives by key partner countries;
(c) improving access to partner country markets and boosting trade, investment and business opportunities for companies from the Union, while eliminating barriers to market access and investment, by means of economic partnerships, business and regulatory cooperation. The attainment of that objective shall be measured by the Union's share in foreign trade with key partner countries and by trade and investment flows to partner countries specifically targeted by actions, programmes and measures under this Regulation;
(d) enhancing widespread understanding and visibility of the Union and of its role on the world scene by means of public diplomacy, people-to-people contacts, cooperation in educational and academic matters, think tank cooperation and outreach activities to promote the Union's values and interests. The attainment of that objective may be measured, inter alia, by opinion surveys or evaluations.
Article 2 

1. This Regulation primarily supports cooperation measures with countries with which the Union has a strategic interest in promoting links, especially developed and developing countries which play an increasingly prominent role in global affairs, including in foreign policy, the international economy and trade, multilateral fora and global governance, and in addressing challenges of global concern, or in which the Union has other significant interests.
2. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, all third countries, regions and territories may be eligible for cooperation under this Regulation.
Article 3 

1. The Union seeks to promote, develop and consolidate the principles of democracy, equality, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law on which it is founded, by means of dialogue and cooperation with third countries.
2. To enhance the impact of the Union's assistance, a differentiated and flexible approach shall, where appropriate, be pursued in designing cooperation with third countries, taking into account their economic, social and political contexts, as well as the Union's specific interests, policy priorities and strategies.
3. The Union shall promote a coherent multilateral approach to global challenges and shall foster cooperation with international or regional organisations and bodies, including international financial institutions, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, and other bilateral donors.
4. In implementing this Regulation and in formulating policy, strategic planning and programming and implementing measures, the Union shall aim to ensure coherence and consistency with other areas of its external action, in particular the Development Cooperation Instrument, and with other relevant Union policies.
5. Measures financed under this Regulation shall, where appropriate, be based on cooperation policies set out in instruments, such as agreements, declarations and action plans, agreed between the Union and the international organisations concerned or between the Union and the third countries and regions concerned.Measures financed under this Regulation shall also cover areas linked to the promotion of the Union's specific interests, policy priorities and strategies.
6. Union support under this Regulation shall be implemented in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 236/2014.
Article 4 

1. Multi-annual indicative programmes (MIPs) shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 16(3) of Regulation (EU) No 236/2014.
2. MIPs shall set out the Union's strategic and/or mutual interests and priorities, the specific objectives and expected results. For countries or regions for which a joint framework document, laying down a comprehensive Union strategy, has been established, the MIPs shall be based on that document.
3. MIPs shall also set out the priority areas selected for financing by the Union and shall outline the indicative allocation of funds, in overall terms, per priority area and per partner country or group of partner countries, for the period concerned, including the participation in global initiatives. Those amounts may, where appropriate, be expressed in the form of a range.
4. MIPs may provide for an amount of funds, not exceeding 5 % of the total amount, that is not allocated to a priority area or partner country or group of countries. Those funds shall be committed in accordance with Article 2(2), (3) and (5) of Regulation (EU) No 236/2014.
5. The procedure referred to in Article 16(4) of Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 may be applied for the purpose of modifying MIPs on duly justified imperative grounds of urgency.
6. With regard to attaining the objectives set out in Article 1, the Commission may take into account the geographic proximity of the Union's outermost regions and overseas countries and territories in the Union's cooperation with third countries.
7. Any programming or review of programmes taking place after the publication of the mid-term review report referred to in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 (the ‘mid-term review report’) shall take into account the results, findings and conclusions of that report.
Article 5 
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 6 to amend the thematic priorities to be pursued by the Union's assistance under this Regulation, as laid down in the Annex to this Regulation. In particular, following the publication of the mid-term review report, and based upon the recommendations contained in that report, the Commission shall adopt a delegated act amending the Annex to this Regulation by 31 March 2018.
Article 6 

1. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 5 is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 5 shall be conferred on the Commission for the period of validity of this Regulation.
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 5 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.
4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and the Council.
5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 5 shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council.
Article 7 
The Commission shall be assisted by the Partnership Instrument Committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.
Article 8 

1. The financial envelope for the implementation of this Regulation for the period 2014-2020 shall be EUR 954 765 000.The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the European Parliament and the Council within the limits of the multiannual financial framework.
2. In accordance with Article 18(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, in order to promote the international dimension of higher education, an indicative amount of EUR 1 680 000 000 from the different instruments for financing external action (the Development Cooperation Instrument, the European Neighbourhood Instrument established by Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council, the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II) established by Regulation (EU) No 231/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council and the Partnership Instrument), shall be allocated to actions in respect of learning mobility to or from partner countries within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013, and to cooperation and policy dialogue with authorities, institutions and organisations from those countries. Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 shall apply to the use of those funds.The funding shall be made available through two multiannual allocations covering the first four years and the remaining three years respectively. The allocation of that funding shall be reflected in the multiannual indicative programming provided for in this Regulation, in line with the identified needs and priorities of the countries concerned. The allocations may be revised in case of major unforeseen circumstances or important political changes in line with the priorities of the Union's external action.
3. Actions within the scope of Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 shall be funded by the Partnership Instrument only in so far as they are not eligible for funding under other instruments for financing external action and they complement or reinforce other initiatives under this Regulation.
Article 9 
This Regulation shall apply in accordance with Decision 2010/427/EU.
Article 10 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2014 until 31 December 2020.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member StatesDone at Strasbourg, 11 March 2014.
For the European Parliament
The President
M. SCHULZ
For the Council
The President
D. KOURKOULAS
ANNEX
1. 
Support for the Union's bilateral, regional and inter-regional cooperation partnership strategies, by promoting policy dialogue and by developing collective approaches and responses to challenges of global concern.


— Supporting the implementation of Partnership and Cooperation Agreements, action plans and similar bilateral instruments;
— Deepening the political and economic dialogue with third countries of particular relevance in world affairs, including in foreign policy;
— Supporting engagement with relevant third countries on bilateral and global issues of common concern;
— Promoting an adequate follow-up or coordinated implementation of the conclusions of international fora such as the G20.

Reinforcement of cooperation on global challenges, addressing in particular climate change, energy security and the protection of the environment.


— Stimulating efforts in partner countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in particular by promoting and supporting adequate regulatory and performance standards;
— Boosting the greening of production and trade;
— Developing energy cooperation;
— Promoting renewable and sustainable energy sources.

2. 
Implementing the international dimension of ‘Europe 2020’, bringing together three pillars: economic, social and environmental:


— Enhancing policy dialogue and cooperation with relevant third countries, taking into consideration all areas within the scope of ‘Europe 2020’;
— Promoting the Union's internal policies with key partner countries and supporting regulatory convergence in this regard.

3. 
Facilitation and support of economic and trade relations with partner countries:


— Promoting a secure environment for investment and business, including protection of intellectual property rights, tackling market access barriers, reinforced regulatory cooperation, and promotion of opportunities for the Union's goods and services, especially in areas in which the Union has a competitive advantage, and international standards;
— Supporting the negotiation, implementation and enforcement of trade and investment agreements to which the Union is a party.

4. 

— Enhancing cooperation in higher education: enhancing student and academic staff mobility, leading to the creation of partnerships aimed at improving the quality of higher education and of joint degrees leading to academic recognition (‘Erasmus+ Programme’);
— Enhancing widespread knowledge of the Union and raising its profile: promoting the Union's values and interests in partner countries through enhanced public diplomacy and outreach activities in support of the objectives of the instrument.

On the basis of Article 14 TEU, the European Commission will conduct a strategic dialogue with the European Parliament prior to the programming of the Regulation (EU) No 234/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing a Partnership Instrument for cooperatin with third countries and after initial consultation of its relevant beneficiaries, where appropriate. The European Commission will present to the European Parliament the relevant available documents on programming with indicative allocations foreseen per country/region, and, within a country/region, priorities, possible results and indicative allocations foreseen per priority for geographic programmes, as well as the choice of assistance modalities. The European Commission will present to the European Parliament the relevant available documents on programming with thematic priorities, possible results, choice of assistance modalities, and financial allocations for such priorities foreseen in thematic programmes. The European Commission will take into account the position expressed by the European Parliament on the matter.
The European Commission will conduct a strategic dialogue with the European Parliament in preparing the mid-term review and before any substantial revision of the programming documents during the period of validity of this Regulation.
The European Commission, if invited by the European Parliament, will explain where the European Parliament's observations have been taken into consideration in the programming documents and any other follow-up given to the strategic dialogue.

The European Parliament notes that Regulation (EU) No 233/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation for the period 2014-2020, Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing a European Neighbourhood Instrument, Regulation (EU) No 234/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing a Partnership Instrument for cooperation with third countries and Regulation (EU) No 231/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 establishing an Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II) do not contain any explicit reference to the possibility of suspending assistance in cases where a beneficiary country fails to observe the basic principles enunciated in the respective instrument and notably the principles of democracy, rule of law and the respect for human rights.
The European Parliament considers that any suspension of assistance under these instruments would modify the overall financial scheme agreed under the ordinary legislative procedure. As a co-legislator and co-branch of the budgetary authority, the European Parliament is therefore entitled to fully exercise its prerogatives in that regard, if such a decision is to be taken.
