The European Neighbourhood Policy in perspective: context, implementation and impact / Edited by Richard G. Whitman, Stefan Wolff

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) – the EU’s initiative to launch deeper relations between the European Union and its neighbourhood both in the political and economic fields – was developed in the context of 2004 EU enlargement which aimed at materialising Brussels’ aspirations for deeper integration with the surrounding states, the immediate backyard of the EU. Through the ENP the EU has struggled to preserve the attractiveness of the European model for neighbouring states by using various mechanism of cooperation, however without offering them a full-fledged membership perspective. The ENP was intended to become a tool for shaping a stable environment for the European integration processes, guaranteeing security and stability, supporting democracy and the rule of law. In such way, the ENP was meant to establish a ring of friends on the European Union borders