European Neighbourhood Policy – Ten Years After

The European Neighbourhood Policy was first proposed in 2003 and launched a year later. It aimed at shaping relations with the new EU neighbours after the Eastern enlargement and preventing the creation of new diving lines in Europe. At first it was to cover the three post-Soviet republic – Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. Than its scope was enlarged to Southern Caucasus and the Mediterranean. The strategy on the ENP from the 2004 reaffirmed “The objective of the ENP is to share the benefits of the EU’s 2004 enlargement with neighbouring countries in strengthening stability, security and well-being for all concerned. (…) The privileged relationship with neighbours will build on mutual commitment to common values principally within the fields of the rule of law, good governance, the respect for human rights, including minority rights, the promotion of good neighbourly relations, and the principles of market economy and sustainable development.” Ten years later this ambitious plan remains largely unrealised. The majority of the ENP countries are ruled by authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes. Most of them remain undeveloped, especially when compared to neighbouring EU. The differences of socio-economic development, the existence of the very strict EU visa regime, the scale of illegal migration prove that the Eastern and Southern neighbours of the European Union profit from its enlargement only in a limited way. Such situation is due to three main factors. First, the internal evolution of the neighbouring countries. In 2003 – 2004 the “colour revolutions” in Georgia and Ukraine could suggest that the post-Soviet region would undergo a transformation similar to that in Central Europe after 1989. This was not the case. If Georgia has remained a relatively democratic country, Ukraine has become again a semi-authoritarian regime. Belarus and Azerbaijan are dictatorships, as they used to be. In 2011 the ‘Arab Spring’ brought similar hopes concerning the Mediterranean region. Once again, they were only partially fulfilled. If the situation is better in Tunis and Libya, the old regime grows stronger in Egypt and the civil war devastates Syria. Second, the weakness of the EU engagement in the region. Internal problems of the European Union (the ‘enlargement fatigue’, the constitutional reform and now the economic crisis) considerably hamper the ability of the Union to shape its direct neighbourhood. EU is unable to define a clear stance on the undemocratic regimes in Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. Its financial aid remain far below the needs of the neighbours. Finally the existence of the visa regime and a growing negative attitude towards the immigrants contribute to the stereotype of ‘Europe fortress’. Third, the EU has to compete in its neighbourhood with other powers which propose alternative socio-economic, if not civilisation models to the Eastern Europe and Mediterranean countries. In the first case, the main rival is the Russian Federation, which supports the post-Soviet, undemocratic and oligarchic regimes in its ‘close neighbourhood’ and opposes their rapprochement with the EU. In the second, the Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Qatar) back the Islamists movements in the after Arab Spring political realities, while Turkey thanks to its economic success becomes an interesting alternative to the EU. Biographies of the section chairs: Professor Justyna Zając M.A. from the University of Warsaw (in International Relations) and University of Catania (in Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Studies); PhD from the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science, University of Warsaw (2004); D.Litt. in Political Science, specialization: International Relations (2010). She completed the joint Israeli-Palestinian Programme on Political Science & Middle East Studies, held at Galilee College (2007). She was a member of Steering Committee of Standing Group on International Relations, European Consortium for Political Research (2004-2010); chairperson of the Young Scholars Council at the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland (2011-2012); expert in the EMP/UfM issues at the Institut Europeau de la Mediterrània (IEMed.) in Barcelona. She got scholarships from the Foundation of Polish Science (2005, 2006) and weekly magazine Polityka (2005). Member of the Commission of National Security Strategic Review established by the President of the Republic of Poland. Head of the research project: European Union in the Mediterranean: between common policy and the EU member states' interests (2012-2014). She is an author of several books and numerous papers. The last book: The EU Policy in the Mediterranean: An International Roles Theory Approach (Warsaw 2014, forthcoming). Andrzej Szeptycki, Ph.D. A graduate of the Institute of International Relations (2000) and the DEA Postgraduate Studies in History at the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) (2002). Doctor of Humanities in Political Science (2004). Between 2005 and 2009 Analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs (areas of interest: Ukraine, France). Vice Chairman of the Board at the Foundation of Szeptycki Family. Editorialist at the bimonthly New Eastern Europe. Dr Andrzej Szeptycki held research fellowships at the École Normale Supérieure (Paris, France) (1999 - 2000) and at the National University "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy" (Ukraine) (2005). The Foundation for Polish Science scholarship-holder (2005-2006). Currently, Assistant Professor at the Institute of International Relations. His latest publications include Between Neighborhood and Integration. The principles, the functionnement and the Perspectives of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union (editor, Warsaw 2011), Ukraine towards Russia. Study of dependence (Warsaw 2013).