External Relations of the European Union (IER4003)
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Summary External Relations of the European Union - Literature Summaries week 6
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External Relations of the European Union (IER4003)
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Maastricht University (UM)
Summaries of the readings for European Labour and Social Security Law week 6:
- P. Van Elsuwege in Wessel and Larik, Chapter 13, The EU and its Neighbours, pp.437-457
External Relations of the European Union (IER4003)
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External Relations of the European Union – Literature Notes Week 6: The European
Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership
P. Van Elsuwege in Wessel and Larik, Chapter 13, The EU and its Neighbours, pp.437-457
I Neighbours with an Accession Perspective: Western Balkans and Turkey
A. The Stabilisation and Association Process in the Western Balkans
The EU’s policy towards the Western Balkans started in 1999 with the Stability Pact for South-Eastern
Europe, launched as a multilateral political declaration in Cologne on 10 June 1999. A crucial aspect of
the initiative was that the Union provided an express accession perspective to the Western Balkan
countries, applying the methodology which had been developed earlier in relation to the CEEC’s: the
conclusion of bilateral Stabilisation and Association Agreements (SAA’s) with a strong element of
conditionality and exporting of the EU acquis as a means of preparing the associated countries for EU
accession. The most significant difference was the focus on stabilisation on the basis of regional
cooperation and good neighbourliness within the framework of the so-called Stabilisation and
Association Process (SAP), the central objective of which was to foster a process of regional
reconciliation and cooperation based on common political and economic goals. The latest SAA with
Kosovo is a special case in the sense that it is concluded as an EU-only agreement and with the explicit
proviso that this does not constitute recognition of Kosovo as an independent state.
B. Turkey: A Long-standing Associated Country
The EEC and Turkey signed an associated agreement in 1963. An additional protocol singed in 1970
introduced more specific commitments regarding the gradual establishment of a customs union and
the envisaged introduction of free movement of persons and services. The Association Council
moreover significantly strengthened the legal position of Turkish workers inside the Union by adopting
Association Decision No 1/95.
II The European Neighbourhood Policy
A. Article 8 TEU: Competence or Objective?
The first paragraph of Article 8 corresponds with Article 21 TEU in that it sets out an objective for the
Union, specific to its neighbourhood. Importantly, the provision is strongly worded. The second
paragraph then pertains to the instrument through which to attain the objective: ‘specific’ agreements
with neighbours. Article 8, however, does not confer new or distinct powers upon the Union. It may
thus be viewed in a similar vein to Articles 3(5) and 21 TEU: stating an objective but not providing a
substantive legal basis. For this reason, association agreements are not based on Article 8 but on other
legal bases.
B. Key Features of the European Neighbourhood Policy
Before the ENP, the EU had already developed a framework for cooperation with its Southern
Mediterranean neighbours through the ‘Euro-Mediterranean Partnership’, in which context it
concluded bilateral Association Agreements with seven countries of the Southern Mediterranean.
With the countries of the former Soviet Union, a network of bilateral Partnership and Cooperation
Agreements (PCA’s) was concluded in the second half of the 1990’s. However, it was only with the
2002 reflection paper that the debate about a new neighbourhood policy really kicked off. Of
particular relevant here are two major revisions which took place against the background of significant
geopolitical evolutions in the EU’s neighbourhood: the Arab Spring (2011) and the conflict in Ukraine
(2015).
C. Geographic Scope: Confluence of Geopolitics and Member State Interests
The ‘New Neighbours Initiative’ discussed in the Council in October 2002 focused only on the Eastern
Neighbours and was bilateral in nature: an upgrade in relations with Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus, as
well as Russia. However, in 2003, Russia refused to be treated on an equal basis with the other three
countries, so the Union instead decided to create a bilateral ‘strategic partnership’ with that country.
Subsequently, under pressure from Member States such as Italy, France and Spain who did not want
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