Partnership-Building with Dictators?

Will the EU be more successful in transforming neighbouring countries when it acts on the basis of jointly agreed rules? This paper assesses the transformative capacity of the European Union (EU) in Eastern Europe (EE) through the recently launched Eastern Partnership (EaP). The paper contrasts the partnership-building dimension of the EaP based on the transfer of jointly agreed rules, with the traditional approach of conditional EU rule transfer in relations with Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. The paper analyses which approach prevails in the EaP and, more importantly, whether joint rules are more likely to lead to political and economic transformation in EE than the exclusive transfer of EU acquis. The paper focuses on three of the EaP''s ''flagship'' areas of cooperation specifically: regional energy markets and energy efficiency; the prevention of, preparedness for, and response to natural and man-made disasters; and good environmental governance.