Integration without accession: The EU’s special relationship with the countries in its neighbourhood

This study was inspired by the former Article I-57 of the Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe but is equally pertinent for the provisions on a European neighbourhood policy of the Treaty of Lisbon signed on December 13, 2007 (new Article 7a TUE). The report explores the institutional and policy choices concerning the European Union’s relations with the surrounding countries and regions in its neighbourhood. It surveys the current state of the European Neighbourhood Policy and, in particular, the perceptions of the partner countries of how the EU contends with a series of political dilemmas. Different models for organising relations with neighbouring countries - pre-accession, the European Economic Area (EEA) and association - are analysed. The study suggests that in order to conceive of 'special relationship' as more than simply a scheme ‘in between’ association and accession, such a paradigm could be supplemented by another dimension: that of decentred integration.

The authors of the report are Dimitar Bechev and Kalypso Nicolaidis, St Antony’s College, Oxford University.