Editorial - A new European Neighbourhood Policy to strengthen the European project

• Main Author: Gilles ROUET
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi 2016-12-01
• Series: Eastern Journal of European Studies
• Subjects: European Union; soft power; geopolitical power; Eastern Partnership; value-based transformation
• Online Access: http://ejes.uaic.ro/articles/EJES2016_0702_ROU.pdf

It is now common to link the difficulties of the European project with the instability of the “European Union’s neighbours” and the repeated crises. The “Europeans” would no longer have confidence in a political project, however innovative and hopeful, at least of peace and stability, if not of economic growth. After the beginning of its largest enlargement, twelve years ago, the EU has discovered a new Eastern Neighbourhood, the same one as the Western Neighbourhood of Russia . Even if the “demand of Europe” seems to remain large, for example in Belgrade, Skopje, Kiev or Tbilisi, an important part of the concerned populations express their regret not of previous political situations but of lost stability. And these people express themselves in votes, clearly, as in the last Bulgarian presidential elections, for example. And these votes cannot only be analysed in “sanction vote”.