WIDER EUROPE
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"Our most pressing challenge is the stabilisation of our neighbourhood. Conflicts, terrorism and radicalisation threaten us all. But poverty, corruption and poor governance are also sources of insecurity."

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is based on shared values, the promotion of democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and social cohesion. The ENP also adds economic development for stabilisation, security and migration and mobility.

This page brings not vanished European states to notice, not belonging to the European Union (but excluded are Burgundy, Prussia, Tolosa, Alt Clut, Etruria, Lodomeria). Packed up it concerns most of the Balkan-countries, Russia, GUAM and other nation states. Although these countries are not EU-members, the EU develops and put into effect policies, because the institutions recognise strong European neighbourhood policies.
Liechtenstein Balkans
Greenland Iceland
Transnistria
(breakaway territory)

Gagauzia

European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)
GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) together with Armenia and Belarus is for the EU the Eastern Partnership Russian Federation

Belarus

Russia Andorra
Vatican city state
Vatican City State
Monaco Armenia
Norway

Norse expeditions
(the Vikin
g encampment)

Eastern Partnership

EU, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine

Kazakhstan
Türkiye
Faroe Islands
UK
Switzerland
 

 

  towards a European Political Community
An entity to be named the European Political Community (EPC) was proposed in 1952 as a combination of the existing European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the proposed European Defence Community (EDC). A draft EPC treaty, as drawn up by the ECSC assembly (now the European Parliament), would have seen a directly elected assembly ("the Peoples’ Chamber"), a senate appointed by national parliaments and a supranational executive accountable to the parliament.

The European Political Community project failed in 1954 when it became clear that the European Defence Community would not be ratified by the French national assembly, which feared that the project entailed an unacceptable loss of national sovereignty. As a result, the European Political Community idea had to be abandoned. Following the collapse of the EPC, European leaders met in the Messina Conference in 1955 and established the Spaak Committee which would pave the way for the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC).

Under the same acronym EPC, the European Political Community was proposed by the French president Emmanuel Macron at the Conference on the Future of Europe on 9 May 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in his role as the president of the Council of the European Union (EU). The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, also put forward a similar proposal for the establishment of a "European geopolitical community". On 23–24 June 2022, formation of the community was agreed to at a meeting of the European Council (1). On 29 September 2022, the United Kingdom announced that it would participate in the community. The group convened for the first time on 6 October 2022 with leaders from 44 states in attendance. Russia and Belarus were deliberately excluded from participation. In January 2023, it was confirmed that San Marino had joined the community becoming its 45th participating state. It has been reported that the heads of government of Andorra and Monaco will also attend the second summit bringing the number of members up to 47.
EPC Observatory
The European Political Community (EPC) is an intergovernmental forum for political and strategic discussions about the future of Europe, established in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The group first met in October 2022 in Prague, with participants from 44 European countries, as well as the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission. It is distinct from both the European Union (which is a participant) and the Council of Europe.

The European Political Community aims at:

  • strengthening the links between EU member states and Non-EU member states who share the same European values,
  • increasing cooperation between the member countries on a large scale of topics such as peace, security, energy, climate, migration and the current economic situation,
  • allowing candidate states to start taking part in some European projects, such as student and university exchanges.
Following a bilateral summit meeting between the leaders of the United Kingdom and France on 10 March 2023, it was stated in the joint declaration that the EPC should focus on energy, infrastructures, connectivity, cybersecurity, countering disinformation and migration. During the meeting 1 June, 2023, joint efforts for peace and security and energy resilience and connectivity and mobility in Europe was discussed.

(1) 23 and 24 June 2022, the European Council held a strategic discussion on the European Union’s relations with its partners in Europe. It discussed the proposal to launch a European political community. What, who and how? The aim is to offer a platform for political coordination for European countries across the continent. It could concern all European countries with whom we have close relations. The objective would be to foster political dialogue and cooperation to address issues of common interest so as to strengthen the security, stability and prosperity of the European continent.

Such a framework will not replace existing EU policies and instruments, notably enlargement, and will fully respect the European Union’s decision-making autonomy. Building on this first exchange of views, the European Council will revert to the issue.


Just after the meeting of the European Council December 2023, CEPS organized a webinar on enlargement and defence, where institutional and political impact were discussed.. Next to the EU, (see
European Council conclusions on Ukraine, enlargement and reforms), also the Council of Europe (Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026) is taking a lot of action to assist Ukraine.

SCEEUS Guest Report No. 19, 2023

proposes the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia-Herzegovina, alongside candidate status for Georgia.

 

 

 

 

PROJECTS and POLICIES  

EU-STRAT: ‘The EU and Eastern Partnership Countries: An Inside-Out Analysis and Strategic Assessment’

What should the EU do to support Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova? How can the European Union adapt its policies towards these countries in a very difficult and challenging geopolitical context?

EU-STRAT will address two main questions: First, why has the EU fallen short of creating peace, prosperity and stability in its Eastern neighbourhood? And secondly, what can be done to strengthen the EU’s transformative power in supporting political and economic change in the six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries?

Adopting an inside-out perspective on the challenges of transformation the EaP countries and the EU face, EU-STRAT will:

  • Develop a conceptual framework for the varieties of social orders in EaP countries to explain the propensity of domestic actors to engage in change;
  • Investigate how bilateral, regional and global interdependencies shape the scope of action and the preferences of domestic actors in the EaP countries;
  • De-centre the EU by studying the role of selected member states and other external actors active in the region;
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of the Association Agreements and alternative EU instruments, including scientific cooperation, in supporting change in the EaP countries;
  • Analyse normative discourses used by the EU and Russia to enhance their influence over the shared neighbourhood;
Formulate policy recommendations to strengthen the EU’s capacity to support change in the EaP countries by advancing different scenarios for developmental pathways.



MAXimizing the integration CAPacity of the European Union
:

The ‘big bang enlargement’ of the European Union (EU) has nurtured vivid debates among both academics and practitioners about the consequences of ‘an ever larger Union’ for the EU’s integration capacity. The research project MAXCAP researched the effects of the 2004-2007 enlargement on stability, democracy and prosperity of candidate countries, on the one hand, and the EU’s institutions, on the other. Then it was investigated how the EU can maximized its integration capacity for current and future enlargements. 

Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, Leiden University organized January 22 and 23, 2016, the final conference filled with sessions:- Political and Economic Effects of Enlargement on new members, candidates and neighbours;
- the Effects of Enlargement and the Relationship Between Widening and Deepening;
- Modes of Political and Economic Integration in the EU and Their Effectiveness; and
- Integration Capacity for the Future? Changing Strategies and Citizens' Perceptions.

Simon Mordue, Director ‘Strategy and Turkey’ in the DG NEAR gave a keynote speech and was followed by a round table discussion on the topic: “The European Union and enlargement in difficult times: Deadlock or new impetus?


Adopting an inter-disciplinary and mixed methods approach that combines desk research, in-depth interviews and Q-methodology, MAXCAP will:

a) explain the effects of the EU’s integration modes and strategies on democracy and socio-economic development in the new members, candidates and neighbourhood countries; 

b) inquire into the relationship between the widening and deepening of the EU by establishing conditions for effective decision-making and implementation in an enlarged EU;c) identify the social limits to the EU’s integration capacity related to citizens’ perceptions of the last and future enlargements;d) study the EU’s current and past negotiation strategies in the context of enlargement and investigate to what extent they need to be adjusted to changing conditions in the EU and the candidate countries;e) examine how the EU employs different modes of integrating countries with highly diverse economic powers, democratic qualities of governance, and institutional capacities andf) assess whether alternative models, such as the European Neighbourhood Policy, can be successful in bringing countries closer to the EU.

MAXCAP which features a nine-partner consortium of academic, policy, dissemination and management excellence will create new and strengthen existing links within and between the academic and the policy world on matters relating to the current and future enlargement of the EU.


1 December 2015, a CEPS Commentary 'The 2015 ENP Review: A policy in suspended animation'was drafted. New working methods include the abolition of the annual package of country reports to measure progress (or lack thereof) in reforms aimed at approximating to the EU model. Instead, reporting is set to become more tailor-made to the nature and working calendar of each relationship. In addition to the country-specific reporting, regular thematic reports will track developments in the neighbourhood, for instance on the rule of law, fundamental rights and gender equality.

The concept is translated in at least five ways. First, more focus on cooperation in security sector reform, mainly in the areas of conflict prevention, border protection/management, counterterrorism and anti-radicalisation policies. Second, greater efforts to support inclusive economic and social development, with the creation of job opportunities for youth among the key objectives of “economic stabilisation”. Third, greater crisis-response capacities by deploying the available financial resources in a more flexible manner. Fourth, safe and legal mobility on the one hand, and tackling irregular migration, human trafficking and smuggling on the other. And finally, greater attention to working with partners on energy security and climate action.