The EU and its Neighborhood: An Overview

Abstract

In May 2003 the Thessalonica European Council formally launched the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). This chapter sheds light on the early evolution of the European Neighborhood Policy. It first discusses the different stimuli that led the EU to create the ENP, and proceeds on to explore the policy formation process between 2002- when the first ‘Wider Europe’ proposals were aired-and late 2005. During this time period, ENP drafts succeeded counter-drafts by the Council, the European Commission and national delegations, and the documents reveal an interesting dialogue in terms of how the EU conceives the nature of its relations with its closest geographical neighbors and, what is more, how these relations are best managed.

Elisabeth Johansson-Nogués «The EU and its Neighborhood: An Overview», Katja Weber, Michael E. Smith and Michael Baun (Eds) Governing Europe’s New Neighborhood: Partners or Periphery? Manchester University Press, forthcoming 2006.