The DEFEP Project aims to implement a sustainable and effective system of distance education as a separate and independent form of education in the activities of the Eastern Partnership countries. A well-designed system of the distance education in the higher education institutions (HEIs) will address many important issues related to future challenges that arise in education under the behavioral, personal, ideological changes of generations and technological transformations of the labor market. At the same time, the system of the distance education in HEIs creates all the necessary conditions for the implementation of the principle of barrier-free education and creates a safe learning environment in today’s realities. The existing system of the distance education in Ukrainian and Moldovan HEIs will be improved and comprehensively reorganized taking into account the experience of European partners universities. The Project is focused on the creation of institutional departments in HEIs, the development of distance teaching methods and teaching materials, and training of teaching staff. In the complex, it will contribute to the systematic design of the distance education, as a separate independent branch of education, which will develop the professional competencies and soft skills of students, by the needs of the labor market.