EU’s flexible regional multilateralism towards its Black Sea neighbourhood

Abstract

The EU as a global actor has its own interests in its immediate neighbourhood. Official documents refer to EU’s support to regional cooperation in its close vicinity while institutional linkages have been strengthened within the European Neighbourhood Policy and by the proliferation of other bilateral and multilateral agreements. The result of two decades of cooperation has led to a ‘flexible regional multilateralism’ in Europe’s eastern neighbourhood in which a range of often ad hoc engagements have resulted in a feeble framework for interaction. This article assesses recent developments in EU’s regional behaviour. It points to EU’s tendency to render bilateral and multilateral forms of actions that blur a focus on the processes of regional engagement. Despite changes in the discourse of regional multilateralism (from sovereignty boosting, ‘stepping stone’ logic to partnerships building) EU’s current policy towards the Black Sea may be regarded as a continuation of its policy of external governance. Nevertheless, EU’s policy is being buffeted by a range of regional and external influences, in its attempt to carve out a new role for itself in the Black Sea area.

Keywords:

• Black Sea
• Synergy
• Eastern Partnership
• European Union
• regional multilateralism

Notes

An earlier version of this article was first presented at the seminar ‘The EU and Europe’s sea basins’, organized by ICDS, Tallinn, 2–3 March 2011. The paper was prepared within the framework of the EU4Seas project. The author thanks the anonymous reviewer for his/her comments.

1. Romania would support the environmental partnership, Greece the one on transport and Bulgaria the one on energy.

2. An inventory drafted in early 2010 includes 24 regional schemes of relevance to the Black Sea (Manoli 2010, 16–22).

3. Contractual relations between the EU and its eastern partners still rest on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreements signed in the 1990s as negotiations on Association Agreements are still open.