This book explores the EU’s relations with its eastern neighbours. Based on extensive original research – including surveys, focus-groups, a study of school essays and in-depth interviews with key people in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and in Brussels – it assesses why the EU’s initiatives have received limited legitimacy in the neighbourhood. The European Neighbourhood Policy of 2004, and the subsequent Eastern Partnership of 2009 heralded a new form of relations with the EU’s neighbours – partnership based on joint ownership and shared values – which would complement if not entirely replace the EU’s traditional governance framework used for enlargement. These initiatives have, however, received a mixed response from the EU’s eastern neighbours. The book shows how the key elements of partnership have been forged mainly by the EU, rather than jointly, and examines the idea and application of external governance, and how this has been over-prescriptive and confusing.

This unique book, representing the main output of the Jean Monnet Multilateral Research Project granted by the European Commission, is dedicated to the legal and political dimension of the European Union policy towards its Eastern neighbours, namely Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. The Eastern Partnership clearly occupies a privileged position in the EU’s external relations and constitutes an important “Eastern axis” of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The book examines relevant material from a broad perspective, and attention is paid to the in-depth analysis of Eastern Partnership Agreements and the new Association agreements, examining their place in the External Relations Law of the EU and the legal mechanisms of their operation. In this respect, comparisons with the previous Association agreements with the states of the Central Europe are also made here. A great part of the book is also dedicated to an analysis of the issues of human rights, the rule of law, and legal approximation as a key element of the acceptation of duties of the association countries. Recent political unrest in Ukraine in connection with the delay of the signature of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement has also shown that this contract instrument is considered to be a key indicator in geopolitical terms, as a concrete expression and powerful symbol of the future orientation of this Partnership state and its willingness to share common European values. This volume’s analysis of this document enables a better understanding of the reasons for, and the core of, this development. The diversity of contributors to this book allows a multi-perspectival analysis, incorporating views from old and new EU Member States, as well as Partnership states, and reflects the recent experiences of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Estonia with regards to the implementation of the Association Agreements. The volume is also opened by the preface of the Commissioner for the Enlargement, Eastern Partnership and the Association, Stefan Füle, and reflects his experience in these matters.

In May 2004, eight former communist states in Central and Eastern Europe acceded to the European Union. This new book examines the Eastern expansion of the EU through a tripartite structure, developing an empirical, conceptual and institutional analysis to provide a rounded and substantive account of EU enlargement, with new theoretical insights. The foreword is by written by Pat Cox, former president of the European Parliament. John O'Brennan also explores: why the EU decided to expand its membership what factors drove this process forward? how did the institutional environment of the EU influence enlargement outcomes? In this context he comprehensively covers the role of the European Council, Commission and Parliament. This important volume will of great interest to students and scholars of European politics and European Union studies.

The EU continuously searches for more effective policy tools towards its eastern neighbours. In order to understand the complexity and limitations of EU policies in the eastern region, this volume adopts an original analytical perspective of social practices to comprehensively unravel the interface between policy instruments, multiple age

Since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, the EU has been in almost permanent crisis mode. It is witnessing new dimensions of internal differentiation among its member states, and the migration crisis has shown that the Central and Eastern European countries (CEEs) in particular are slowly but certainly transforming themselves from predominantly passive policy-takers towards becoming more active players in the process of shaping the EU’s governance agenda. This edited volume offers the first comprehensive and critical insight into how the CEEs position themselves in the EU’s changing internal and external environment, their stance towards the European integration process under current crisis conditions, and what political and economic strategies they prioritize.

One of the world's most prevalent political quarrels is the current geographical state of Ukraine, along with its relationships with Russia and the European Union. With the annexation of Crimea, Russian forces have gained control over most of Eastern Ukraine, igniting a clash between the two governments and triggering the European Union, United States, and several Post-Soviet states to involve themselves in the situation. As these engagements continue to unfold, significant research is needed to examine the current state of these administrations and the tensions that continue to intensify in this region of the world. Analyzing Political Tensions Between Ukraine, Russia, and the EU is a collection of innovative research on the recent developments inside this growing geopolitical conflict. While highlighting topics including neighborhood policy, NATO relations, and Eastern partnership, this book is ideally designed for politicians, policymakers, governmental strategists, researchers, educators, journalists, academicians, and students seeking further understanding of foreign relations and the current political struggles of these European territories.

This book examines EU Eastern Partnership taking into account geopolitical challenges of EU integration. It highlights reasons for limited success, such as systematic conflict of EU External Action. In addition, the book analyses country-specific issues and discusses EaP influence on them, investigating political, economic and social factors, while seeking for potential solutions to existing problems. The reluctance of the Eastern countries to the European reforms should not reduce political pro-activeness of the EU. The authors suggest that EaP strategies should be reviewed to be more reciprocal and not based solely on the EU-laden agenda. This book is one of the good examples of cooperation between scholars not only from EaP and EU countries, but also from different disciplines, bringing diversity to the discussion process.