Publication

The paper addresses the EU's historic dilemma of effectively balancing the need to promote stability in countries beyond its borders yet inducing positive change in these countries through political conditionality and, eventually, the expansion of the EU itself. This dilemma rose to the surface of public debate with the EU's expansion into Central and Eastern Europe in May 2004. The paper examines and critiques, inter alia, the EU's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), and advocates the use of regionalism as a conceptual framework and policy instrument in the post-enlargement period in addressing relations with new neighbours outside of the enlarged EU. The author concludes in presenting considerations for regional strategy and exemplifies the paper's findings through a case study of the Black Sea Region.