Link to the University of Pittsburgh
Link to the University Library SystemContact us link
AEI Banner

Between a rock and a hard place: the EU and the Eastern Partnership after the 2017 Brussels Summit. College of European Policy Brief #5.18, April 2018

Corman, Mihai-Răzvan and Băluțel, Adrian (2018) Between a rock and a hard place: the EU and the Eastern Partnership after the 2017 Brussels Summit. College of European Policy Brief #5.18, April 2018. [Policy Paper]

[img] PDF - Published Version
Download (1321Kb)

    Abstract

    > The November 2017 Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit in Brussels underscored the EU’s recent shift towards focusing mainly on politically nonsensitive sector-specific cooperation in its Eastern neighbourhood. This new approach results from the absence of political and economic reforms and unfavourable geopolitical conditions in the region. > Sobering and unambitious as it may seem, the EU’s new EaP policy might offer unsuspected potentialities, achieve stronger sectoral links and have an actual impact on people’s daily lives while maintaining a geopolitical balance. > At the same time, the focus on sector-specific cooperation might slow down the EU-inspired transformation process and diminish the EU’s role as a key player in EaP countries. > Taking into consideration the limitations of functional cooperation and its inability to confront the considerably disruptive challenges on the ground, this new approach cannot be but temporary in nature. > Currently stuck between a rock and a hard place, the EU will eventually have to take a clearer stance regarding the future of the EaP. Only relying on horizontal technical ‘network governance’ as a tool for rule transfer will not substantially advance the situation in the Eastern neighbourhood. In the long run, the challenges EaP countries are faced with require a well-structured and politically sustainable strategy.

    Export/Citation:EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII (Chicago style) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
    Social Networking:
    Item Type: Policy Paper
    Subjects for non-EU documents: EU policies and themes > External relations > EU-Eastern Partnership
    Subjects for EU documents: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Series and Periodicals: UNSPECIFIED
    EU Annual Reports: UNSPECIFIED
    Series: Series > College of Europe (Brugge) > College of Europe Policy Briefs
    Depositing User: Phil Wilkin
    Official EU Document: No
    Language: English
    Date Deposited: 17 May 2019 17:29
    Number of Pages: 5
    Last Modified: 17 May 2019 17:29
    URI: http://aei.pitt.edu/id/eprint/97334

    Actions (login required)

    View Item

    Document Downloads