Biba Klomp
06-16-2009, 01:50 PM
The limits of enlargement-lite: European and Russian power in the troubled
neighbourhood
by Nicu Popescu & Andrew Wilson
Executive summary
The six eastern neighbours of the European Union – Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan – are in the middle of the worst economic and political disarray they have faced since achieving independence in 1991. Over the past year, war in Georgia, the Ukrainian gas crisis and the burning of the Moldovan parliament have all dominated the front pages of European newspapers. But behind the headlines the story is just as bleak: politics in the “neighbourhood”1 is a toxic mixture of authoritarianism and stalled democracy, ongoing secessionist tensions continue to stoke fears of violent conflict, and the economic crisis is wreaking havoc throughout the region.
The implications for the EU are profound. Renewed hostilities or economic collapse could see an influx of immigrants into eastern Member States. Several banks in western Member States are exposed to the imploding economies in the east. But beyond these immediate dangers, there is an emerging contest between the EU and Russia over the political rules that are to govern the neighbourhood. Since the 2004 Orange revolution in Ukraine, Russia has been working tirelessly to draw the countries of the region into its sphere of influence while the EU has continued to pursue a technocratic strategy best described as “enlargement-lite” – offering the neighbourhood states the prospect of eventual political and economic alignment with the EU while dampening down any hopes of actual accession.
The latest iteration of the EU’s strategy comes in the form of the “Eastern
Partnership” (EaP), a development of the EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).2 But the EaP’s launch summit in Prague on 7 May 2009 served only to highlight the problems with the European approach. Angela Merkel was the only leader of a major Member State to bother to attend, exposing divisions within the EU over the importance of the region and confirming suspicions in the neighbourhood that the EU has other priorities. In the summit communiqué, the neighbourhood states were downgraded from “European countries” – a phrase which it was feared would encourage hopes of accession – to “partner countries”. And Germany and France succeeded in watering down the language on visa liberalisation, a key issue for neighbourhood states.
Read full report HERE (http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/MYAI-7T3AE6/$File/full_report.pdf)
neighbourhood
by Nicu Popescu & Andrew Wilson
Executive summary
The six eastern neighbours of the European Union – Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan – are in the middle of the worst economic and political disarray they have faced since achieving independence in 1991. Over the past year, war in Georgia, the Ukrainian gas crisis and the burning of the Moldovan parliament have all dominated the front pages of European newspapers. But behind the headlines the story is just as bleak: politics in the “neighbourhood”1 is a toxic mixture of authoritarianism and stalled democracy, ongoing secessionist tensions continue to stoke fears of violent conflict, and the economic crisis is wreaking havoc throughout the region.
The implications for the EU are profound. Renewed hostilities or economic collapse could see an influx of immigrants into eastern Member States. Several banks in western Member States are exposed to the imploding economies in the east. But beyond these immediate dangers, there is an emerging contest between the EU and Russia over the political rules that are to govern the neighbourhood. Since the 2004 Orange revolution in Ukraine, Russia has been working tirelessly to draw the countries of the region into its sphere of influence while the EU has continued to pursue a technocratic strategy best described as “enlargement-lite” – offering the neighbourhood states the prospect of eventual political and economic alignment with the EU while dampening down any hopes of actual accession.
The latest iteration of the EU’s strategy comes in the form of the “Eastern
Partnership” (EaP), a development of the EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).2 But the EaP’s launch summit in Prague on 7 May 2009 served only to highlight the problems with the European approach. Angela Merkel was the only leader of a major Member State to bother to attend, exposing divisions within the EU over the importance of the region and confirming suspicions in the neighbourhood that the EU has other priorities. In the summit communiqué, the neighbourhood states were downgraded from “European countries” – a phrase which it was feared would encourage hopes of accession – to “partner countries”. And Germany and France succeeded in watering down the language on visa liberalisation, a key issue for neighbourhood states.
Read full report HERE (http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/MYAI-7T3AE6/$File/full_report.pdf)