Europe’s East - Ideas for the EU’s policy vis-à-vis its eastern neighbors

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and the major expansion of the European Union in the past decade, it has become necessary for the EU to adjust its relationship to its eastern neighbors. The greatest challenge in this regard is to ensure coherence between an active European Russia policy on one hand and equally dedicated and differentiated positions in relation to its other eastern neighbors.

The EU has a broad range of interests with regard to its neighbors to the East. Russia is the EU’s most important supplier of natural gas, while vital transit routes pass through countries such as Belarus, Ukraine and Georgia. Furthermore, with the eastward expansion of the European Union, the neighbor states’ security problems have become relevant for the EU as well.

Significant long-term risks to stability along the EU’s external borders

All countries in the region have experienced deep crises of transformation following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Authoritarian forms of government have become entrenched in most of them. Repressive regimes, chronic human-rights abuses, monopolistic economic structures and rampant corruption pose significant long-term risks to stability along the EU’s external borders. It is therefore in the EU’s own interest to help societies in eastern Europe establish democratic governance and rule of law.

To date, there has been little sign of a joint European policy guided by shared European interests and marked by coherence and a clear message toward Russia and the countries of the Eastern Partnership. The different attitudes among the old and new members of the EU must be respected and reconciled wherever possible in an open consultation process in order to develop a common policy toward eastern Europe. We see this as a core European policy challenge for the coming years.

Which constructive policies should the EU pursue in eastern Europe?

With our annual foreign policy conference in 2010 in cooperation with The European Council on Foreign Relations, we want to provide ideas for European and transatlantic debate about constructive policies for the EU to pursue in eastern Europe to go beyond geopolitical zero-sum games in promoting security, rule of law and sustainable development.

We would like to discuss the following issues with you:
- What should Europe look like in the year 2025?
- What would a relationship between the EU and Russia look like that is characterized by cooperation and not based on exclusive “zones of influence”?
- What kind of security system does Europe as a whole need in the 21st century in order to prevent a new European division?
- What lessons can be learned from the war in Georgia for similar potential conflicts in Europe’s eastern neighborhood?
- Which perspectives does Europe have for sustainable energy security?
- Is an EU membership perspective a precondition to consolidating the democratic transformation of eastern Europe?

» CV's of speakers (PDF)