Is the European neighborhood policy only a policy of exclusion which separates the EU from its close neighbors?

Résumé du document

Developed in the context of the enlargement of the European Union in 2004 at the Stockholm European Council in 2001, the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) as it is conceived today was designed to avoid the appearance of new dividing line in Europe. The main objective of the ENP is to improve the EU's relations with the riparian countries to the east and south side of its borders, without involving these countries in an accession procedure. This policy makes it possible to improve the Union's relations with its close neighbors on topics such as security, stability and economic development.
Two main regional policies are at the heart of the ENP: Euromed with the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean, and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) with the countries of Eastern Europe.

Extraits

[...] In its economic dimension, which is the basis of cooperation with neighboring countries, the results are mixed. The adoption of the single market rules by the neighboring countries presented as one of the main themes of the 2003 communication, has proved to be an excessive or even negative ambition for countries that did not engage in significant exchanges with the EU, and therefore not ready to enter an economy with a single market. Similarly, the more limited goals of free trade development have disappointed, not meeting the expectations raised. [...]

[...] In the south as in the east, it is necessary to manage relations with insufficiently democratic governments, effectively ignoring the defense of freedoms. For lack of anything better, the EU will implement a pragmatic policy, limiting itself to issues of common interest. The search for conditionality, possibly "more for more", is no longer on the agenda of the ENP. However, there is still a need to avoid inconsistencies between the Union's Community action, formally attached to the fundamental principles of law, and the action of the Member States, which are sometimes more inclined toward realism and pragmatism by their commercial interests. [...]

[...] De jure, the ENP should promote the better inclusion of all partners, and joint ownership of the regional cooperation process[7]. But de facto, this policy segregated the countries concerned, refusing them the EU candidacy, which caused a rejection in some countries of the EU and its values. The few successes of the political changes that took place in Tunisia or Georgia cannot hide the overall failure of this policy, which promised Europeanization to neighboring countries without Europeanity, thus marking a deep division between the neighboring candidate countries and the neighboring countries of the ENP. [...]

[...] If the nature and objectives of the European Neighborhood Policy are clear and their developments have been pragmatic and individualized to each country (the policy adopted by Moldova is quite different from that adopted by Azerbaijan), the results, however, are much more mixed, both from an economic or human point of view. Is the European Neighborhood Policy, which claim to be a policy of integration, isn't ultimately only a policy of exclusion, which separates the Union from its close neighbors? I. The idea and the will to improve EU relations with these close neighbors The idea and desire to improve the EU's relations with these close neighbors are older than the 2001 Stockholm European Council, which saw the emergence of the concept of ENP. [...]

[...] The most recent of the European Union's Neighborhood Policies is the Eastern Partnership inaugurated in 2009, which aims to conclude agreements with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Belarus. In its presentation by the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Eastern Partnership is a multilateral initiative that enables the States concerned to move closer to the EU and its members by strengthening their political, economic and social and cultural ties. The European Union individualizes its legal relationship with each of the partner states, in a spirit of bilateral rapprochement. [...]