Beyond ‘Big Bang’ The Challenges of the EU’s Neighbourhood Policy in the East

Abstract:

The Eastern enlargement of the European Union that took place at the beginning of May 2004 is an event which will radically reshape the Union. Thus far, however, the focus has mainly been on examining the internal – institutional and political – repercussions that the 'Big Bang' will have on the EU.

Yet the enlargement will also have external effects. This FIIA Report analyzes what is perhaps the most significant of these, namely the advent of new neighbours – Belarus, Ukraine and, if Romania joins in 2007, Moldova – along the Union’s Eastern perimeter.