The European Union and its neighbours: "Everything but institutions"?

The paper considers the status of the European Neighbourhood Policy in the light of the new Financial Perspective 2007-2013. Even if in theory the ENP could have been a valid substitute for enlargement, it does not seem to have reached its aim of providing the perspective of a real substitute for full membership. Considering the figures of the new Financial Perspective 2007-2013, the issue of market access, and the internal power dynamics of the EU, we see that it is hardly conceivable that the ENP could ever give to its neighbours the same economic advantages that membership gives to the poorer members of the EU. The consideration of some related basic issues of EU institutional reform concludes the paper.