Dilemmas of post-enlargement Europe: building an 'Insecurity Zone'

Abstract

This article reflects on the development and operation of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) from the perspective of the post-1989 attempt to extend the West European ‘Security Community’ into the wider Europe via processes of both EU enlargement and attempts to foster deep integration with former Soviet states. Whilst the EU’s strategy towards eastern neighbours should certainly not be taken as the sole or even key cause of the ‘insecurity zone’ in and around the EU’s eastern frontier, it seems hard to avoid the conclusion that actions such as the ENP and EaP have played an important part in these developments. This is an analytical contribution rather than a study based on primary research. As well as extending existing discussions about the expansion of the European Security Community and the application of the ‘Optimum Integration Area’ concept to the EaP countries, the article includes a focus on EU states’ economic relations with Russia which is a critical albeit underexplored constraint upon EU ‘eastern’ policy.