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Europe’s Neighborhood Policies in a New Context: The Impact of Crisis

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
9 September 2010

This event was moderated by Christian Ostermann with speaker Panagiota

Manoli, who is currently finishing up her tenure as a Southeast Europe Policy
Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Panagiota Manoli spoke at the Wilson Center about the EU’s European
Neighborhood Policy (ENP), discussing the characteristics of the ENP, the
ever-evolving context in which it is developing, the effect that the global
financial crisis is having on it, and its future. As Manoli’s primary focus is the
Black Sea area, she discussed the EU's Eastern European neighbors and
made some reference to its Southern (Mediterranean) neighbors. Manoli
emphasized that the ENP, as a relatively new EU policy created in 2003-
2004, is still evolving. This is evidenced by the expansion of its purview to
include additional regions, shifting from a sole focus on the EU's eastern
neighbors to both its eastern and southern neighbors. It has also expanded
the forms that its partnerships have taken, starting out with primarily
bilateral partnerships and now moving into multilateral territory.
Additionally, throughout the history of the ENP, the EU has been faced with
various crises which have arisen in its neighboring areas, including the color
revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia, the gas crisis, and the armed conflict in
Georgia in 2008.

Manoli also discussed what the global financial crisis and the EU’s reaction
means for the ENP and its future. The EU has played the predominant role
in providing aid to its neighborhood, which has flowed both from EU
resources and IMF loans. But the crisis highlighted the shortcomings of the
ENP, mainly because it was not designed to tackle crises. Furthermore,
Manoli argued that the crisis made the EU realize the importance of Russia’s
economic weight as it provided a stabilizing factor in the region. However,
Manoli also emphasized that the crisis did not boost the ENP or make it more
relevant, as evidenced by the EU's focus on addressing its own financial
problems before those of its neighbors.

Several new factors promise to affect the ENP and its future. One is how the
EU will move forward after the passage of the Lisbon Treaty. New
institutions are being set up within the EU, including the External Action
Service, and the possibility of the EU turning inward as it goes through a
process of trial and error in order to adjust to these new institutions is a
distinct possibility. Additionally, the neighborhood is changing. The
countries in the eastern neighborhood are showing more resilience and
assertiveness both economically and politically. The role that Turkey, Russia,
and the Ukraine will play will dramatically impact how the ENP can move
forward in the future. Manoli argued that the EU should engage Ukraine
through the ENP to avoid “Findlandization,” especially if Ukrainian policy
remains set against joining NATO. She also noted that the ENP's success in
the Black Sea region hinges on the future of Turkish-EU relations.