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Integration Potential of the European Neighbourhood Policy
Integration Potential of the European Neighbourhood Policy

Author(s): Veronika Sklenková
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Katedra politológie - Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave
Keywords: European Neighbourhood Policy; European Union; integration; Eastern Partnership; enlargement

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to examine the actual integration potential of the European Neighbourhood Policy and its related regional initiative – Eastern Partnership for the countries of the Eastern Europe that currently do not have an official perspective of the EU membership. Based on the analysis of official documents we would like to assess the benefits that EU offers to its neighbours under this policy in return for certain reforms and in doing so to analyse the degree of exogenous integration it actually enables to achieve. We assume that for the time being the EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy aims to provide the neighbour countries with an alternative to the accession process since neither the EU nor the neighbour countries are now ready for their potential membership. However, this alternative could have a significant integration potential (even though without a full EU membership as the last step) if all the rules are complied with and the procedures are consistently followed. To support our postulate, we compare the mechanisms and instruments of this policy with those used during the EU enlargement process.

  • Issue Year: 2012
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 21-41
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: English