The Covenant of Mayors initiative in the Eastern Partnership countries (CoM East) was launched in 2011. Since then it has evolved and its scope enlarged. Today, hundreds of local authorities are part of the initiative in the Eastern Partnership region committed to acting against climate change....

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...

In the context of the push by the European Union for regional integration in the Western Balkans, this paper explores the barriers to, and prospects for, deeper intra-Western Balkan economic relationships. First, it addresses the pronounced bilateral economic relationships between Western Balkan...

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...