This policy brief looks into the future of EU-Southern Mediterranean trade relations. It evaluates the current trade and contractual instruments governing these relations and asks if they are sufficient or if more is needed to exploit trade opportunities and manage trade challenges in the...

The Mediterranean is a vibrant economic geography that could grow significantly. This paper reviews the trade relations between the EU and Southern Neighbourhood Countries (SNCs) - their history and the current status of the bilateral trade agreements. While these agreements have many...

The Western Balkan countries and the countries of the Eastern Partnership are moving towards European Union accession at different speeds. We explore whether and how the variable speed towards EU accession can be traced to different legal regimes governing European integration: Stabilisation and...

The dynamics of Austria's economic relations with the EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine - and with Russia have deviated from those of the EU in several important ways. During the decade preceding the war in Ukraine, Austrian trade...

The slow pace of European Union enlargement to the Western Balkans can be attributed to EU member countries losing their political appetite for further enlargement in the 2010s and early 2020s, and to the fact that Western Balkan countries have failed to make visible progress in meeting the...

Recent literature claims that minority entrepreneurship is changing, e.g., entering non-ethnic sectors. A change partly related to spatial transformations (such as gentrification) in neighbourhoods where minorities are settled and to policies affecting their ventures. This article aims to...

Ukraine has been subject to full-scale Russian aggression since 24 February 2022, with major implications for Ukraine's economic performance and economic management. Martial law has temporarily restricted civil and political rights and allowed the government to introduce command management in...

The "Zeitenwende" in international politics implies a need to improve strategic thinking and better prepare for future challenges. Germany is already doing so by drafting strategic documents on national security and relations with China. With respect to Russia, a similar approach suggests...

"The Eastern Partnership (EaP) was launched in 2009 to strengthen institutional, economic and political relations between the European Union (EU) and the six Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine). Further, the adoption of the European Green Deal...

The objective of the study is to provide background information, as well as basic facts and figures, to support the CORLEAP co-chair rapporteur's work on the report "The role and place of local democracy and decentralisation in the modernisation and consolidation of democratic processes in the...

The Eastern Partnership is a specific Eastern dimension to the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Through the ENP, the EU works with its southern and eastern neighbours to achieve the closest possible political association and the greatest possible degree of economic integration. The Eastern...

The euphoria felt by both domestic and foreign liberal audiences following the victory of a pro-reform party in Moldova is now receding. The new Moldovan leadership has stumbled in fulfilling its main electoral promise, namely to fight corruption by effectively reforming the justice system....

France's President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz have stressed the geopolitical emergency of re-designing the European Union's relationship with its neighbourhood. Both acknowledge that EU enlargement is necessary, but also emphasise that profound EU institutional reform...

Die Diskussion um die Erweiterung der Europäischen Union (EU) hat neuen Schub bekommen. Vor dem Hintergrund des russischen Angriffskriegs gegen die Ukraine hat der Europäische Rat im Juni 2022 der Ukraine und der Republik Moldau jeweils den Status eines Beitrittskandidaten sowie Georgien den...

This paper was presented at the 2019 Oxford Conference: Transplanting the EU Competition Framework – Trends and Challenges: Eastern Europe, https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/events/transplanting-eu-competition-framework-trends-and-challenges-eastern-europeThis paper assesses the procedural rules of...

2021 ist ein wichtiges Jahr für die Zusammenarbeit Europas mit seinen Nachbarn im Nahen Osten und in Nordafrika (MENA). Die Corona-Pandemie zwang die Europäische Union (EU) bei der Erstellung ihres neuen Mehrjahreshaushalts, die politischen, wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Prioritäten ihrer...

The South Caucasus region has a strategic geopolitical significance due to its importance for energy transports to Europe, but the conflicts, the pandemic and the instability affect people's safety. Moreover, these conflicts are an obstacle to the economic and social development of these...

2021 is proving to be a key year for cooperation between Europe and its neighbours in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. As the European Union (EU) launches its new multiannual budget, the COVID-19 pandemic has demanded a rethink of the political, economic and social priorities that...

The EU and its partner countries from the eastern and southern Mediterranean regions celebrated in November 2020 the 25th anniversary of the launch of their partnership (the so-called 'Barcelona Process'). This was a timely opportunity to reflect on the strategic partnership with the region, in...

This study examines the effectiveness of the EU’s efforts to improve labour standards among its neighbouring countries through its market integration-based regulatory governance approach. We consider the European Neighbourhood Policy as a critical case for assessing the prospects and...

This paper discusses the major challenges for the present European Commission, starting with Brexit and ending with issues such as EU Eastern Enlargement from today's perspectives, trying to explain why it is difficult to talk about enlargement in a fragmented European Union. How will the...

The institutions that make up the centre of government (CoG) play a crucial role in the policymaking process and help to ensure that government decisions are timely, evidence-informed, strategic and consistent. Despite this prominent role, the CoG often has the reputation of being somewhat...

The ENP occupies a particular place within the EU's external action. In contrast to other EU external policies such as the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), the Common Commercial Policy (CCP), development co-operation or humanitarian aid, it is not subject to explicit competence...