THE EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICY: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which can be viewed as the most significant geopolitical project of the European Union (EU) after 2004 enlargement, also constitutes one of the key issues of the external agenda of the Union. The ENP is a new policy initiated in 2003 and implemented in 2005 and it offers a new partnership between the enlarged EU and wider Europe, the latter including both the EU's old Southern neighbours and the new Eastern ones as well as the Southern Caucasus countries. Central to this partnership is the notion of shared values, economic benefits, cooperation against security challenges or simply said, sharing everything but institutions. Indeed, what the ENP offers to these neighbours is a closer relationship which is compatible with increased interdependence and common needs of a wider Europe, yet short of EU membership. Even though the ENP is inspired by the instruments and mechanisms of EU enlargement, the policy aims at preventing or postponing a new wave of enlargement for the Union. As for the neighbours, commitment to shared values and how to sustain such commitment with required political and economic reforms in the absence of an eventual membership remains a major dilemma