The EU’s neighbouring economies: emerging from the global crisis

How are the neighbouring countries of the EU emerging from the global crisis? This question is at the centre of this Paper.

The global crisis is still having a profound impact on all regions in the world. Some regions ran into a deep crisis while economic growth in other regions only slowed down. The crisis affected the welfare level of most economies significantly and some may have longer-lasting effects.

This publication, which is an annual publication of the European Commission that focuses on the eastern and southern neighbouring countries of the EU, describes the recent economic, monetary and financial developments in these regions. All countries that are part of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) framework are covered.

The ENP encompasses the EU’s immediate neighbours by land or sea. The countries along the southern rim of the Mediterranean are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia. The countries to the east of the EU which form the Commonwealth of Independent States are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Other countries analysed are Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. This year, for the first time, Central Asia is also included given its growing importance, in particular for the EU's eastern neighbours.

This Paper falls into three main parts. The first part gives an overview of welfare developments in the eastern and southern neighbours of the EU, in comparison with the EU, the US, EFTA, the GCC and developing Asia and argues the case for ongoing reforms to ensure future growth. The second part summarizes the similarities and differences in developments for the southern neighbours (the “Med”-region) and the eastern neighbours (the “ENP-CIS and Russia”). The third part contains comprehensive individual country reviews of each of the ENP countries.