“East-West” Convergence through “North - South” Connectivity: A Decade of the Three Seas Initiative’s Contribution to the European Union
“East-West” Convergence through “North - South” Connectivity: A Decade of the Three Seas Initiative’s Contribution to the European Union

Summary/Abstract: Created in a region long marred by historical fracture – self-positioned as Central-European, yet deemed peripheral in inertial cartographies –, the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) has emerged as a quietly potent framework for transforming a once marginal geopolitical space into a hub of purposeful convergence. Situated along the European Union’s North-South axis and aspiring to bridge the East-West divides, the 3SI is less an institutional heavyweight than a nimble political platform – non-institutionalised by design, yet deeply strategic in intent. Encompassing 13 EU Member States – and f lanked by transatlantic allies and regional associates –, it aims not to multiply its reach indiscriminately, but to deepen impact where it counts: infrastructure, energy, and digital connectivity. Against the backdrop of revived geopolitical rivalries and a brutal war in its vicinity, the 3SI serves as both buffer and bond – aligning shared historical, cultural, and institutional legacies with a forward-looking pro-Euro-Atlantic compass. This research probes whether, over the past decade, the 3SI has truly functioned as a mechanism for intra- and inter-EU convergence, offering a resilient, adaptive answer to lingering asymmetries that might undermine unity or fuel discontent regionally. By observing key indicators of economic development (GDP and GDP/per capita growth) and public finance discipline (gross public debt levels) across time and across countries, we find the 3SI “bloc” exhibiting evidence of robust above-EU average performance, indicative of convergent trajectories within the EU.

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