Democracy and Human Rights Policies / Policy Brief
The EU's Eastern partnership: still-born?
20/05/2009 By Natalia Shapovalova
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| Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images |
A new initiative for six of the EU's Eastern neighbours, officially launched on 7 May in Prague, promises an increasing engagement in the region on the part of the EU and a stronger impetus for democracy and market oriented reforms. The EU offers to strengthen bilateral ties with the Eastern Partners as well as to promote regional integration at the EU's borders.
The new policy has been developed against the background of deteriorating democracy and security in the region. Belarus and Azerbaijan are consolidating their authoritarian regimes. Hit by the economic crisis, Ukraine, post-electoral Moldova and post-war Georgia are in political turmoil. The region's security is threatened by the territorial and energy conflicts. However, the EU's policy remains too weak to address the challenges coming from Europe's East.
The Eastern Partnership does not offer strong and timely incentives for reform in the post-soviet countries. The EU offers too little to the Eastern periphery's frontrunners and too much to the laggards. The envisaged regional cooperation initiatives are not supplied with sufficient aid. If the EU wants to fulfil the Eastern Partnership's ambitious objectives, it should take more responsibility for Europe's East and make a more generous offer to the Eastern neighbours.
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Keywords
Civil society Democracy EU European Neighbourhood Policy European UnionRelated publications
- The democracy promotion policies of Central and Eastern European states
- Unfinished Business? Eastern Enlargement and Democratic Conditionality
Bio author: Natalia Shapovalova
Natalia Shapovalova is a researcher at FRIDE. Her research focuses mainly on Ukraine, Eastern Partnership, EU enlargement, Russia, and the Caucasus.
