The EU v. Balkan and Eastern European Countries: Unwelcome Neighbours or Potential Members?

Vassilios Grammatikas ()
Additional contact information
Vassilios Grammatikas: Dept. of Black Sea Studies, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece

Scientific Bulletin - Economic Sciences, 2011, vol. 10, issue 2, 48-61

Abstract: Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, as well as the collapse of the communist regimes in the wider Eastern European and former USSR area, almost all of the respective states, looked upon the European Union as the only way of survival of their economies and their fragile democratic systems. U responded in different ways which can be categorized as follows: a)It incorporated the majority of the Eastern European States, through the enlargement process (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania) and has entered into accession negotiations with others (Croatia, Turkey). b)It initiated bilateral relations with the Russian Federation as an important partner. c)It developed the ENP and more recently the EaP to institutionalize a process of enhanced economic and political cooperation with the respective states aiming at bringing them closer to the EU, while preparing some of them for future membership, but also offering an alternative solution to certain states that the EU is not willing to offer full membership (Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan). d)It formulated the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP) specifically designed to meet the needs of the Western Balkan states and gradually incorporate them.The paper explores the institutional and political framework of the abovementioned developments, the potential outcome for the Balkan and eastern European states and the problematic aspects for the EU and the other parties involved.

Keywords: European Union; enlargement; ENP; EaP; SAP; Western Balkans (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F53 F59 K33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://economic.upit.ro/repec/pdf/2011_2_5.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pts:journl:y:2011:i:2:p:48-61

Access Statistics for this article

Scientific Bulletin - Economic Sciences is currently edited by Alina Hagiu

More articles in Scientific Bulletin - Economic Sciences from University of Pitesti Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Alina Hagiu ().