Region-building in the eastern neighbourhood: assessing EU regional policies in the South Caucasus

Abstract

The promotion of regional cooperation has been a central feature of the European Union (EU)'s external relations. Forms of sub-regional cooperation are deemed to be essential confidence-building measures, as a means of consolidating a shared community of values, practices and interests. This article looks at region-building processes in the EU's relations with the South Caucasus, as the interface between the existing approaches and the ensuing practices. It argues that the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in particular have some critical limitations for effective region-building in the South Caucasus, mainly pertaining to the endorsement of artificial regional labels, limited ability to balance multilateral and bilateral approaches, and poor local ownership of identity-building processes. At the same time, the EaP offers some interesting possibilities for the development of a variable-geometry regional approach, in which these states could be included.

Keywords:

• South Caucasus
• European neighbourhood policy
• eastern partnership
• variable-geometry
• region-building

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful for comments by Graham Timmins on previous versions of the article presented during the UACES Annual Conference, in Cambridge, 2011, to Elena Korosteleva and Michal Natorski, and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful suggestions.

Notes

South Ossetia and Abkhazia were recognised by the Russian Federation, Nicaragua and the Republic of Nauru as independent states, after the war with Georgia, in July 2008.

Data gathered at the CIA World Factbook, available at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/. For more background information on the Caucasus see de Waal (2010).

The European Parliament called for the establishment of an EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, with a regional mandate, as well as for a Stability Pact for the region, which would address the important interdependencies between the South Caucasus states and their neighbours. See European Parliament (2002). Interview with Paolo Bergamaschi, European Parliament Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Brussels, 16 July 2007; with Stefan Pfitzner, Member of the European Parliament, Inter-parliamentary Delegation, Brussels, 18 July 2007.

Interviews with European Commission officials at the European Commission Delegation in Tbilisi, May 2006; with Ambassador Per Eklund, Head of the European Commission Delegation to Georgia, Tbilisi, 7 May 2007, and with Giuseppe Busini, Desk Officer for Azerbaijan, European Commission, Brussels, 10 July 2007.

Interview with Gunnar Viegand, acting responsible for Eastern Europe, Russia, South Caucasus and Central Asia at the European Commission, 20 July 2007.

Interviews with civil society actors in Armenia and Azerbaijan, May 2007 and April 2009.

Interviews with Archil Karaulashvili, Head of the European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Georgia, Tbilisi, 10 May, 2011; with Senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, 12 May, 2011. Remarks made by Mrs Karine Kazinian, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Armenia, Yerevan, 12 May 2011.

Interview with Archil Karaulashvili, Head of the European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Georgia, Tbilisi, 10 May 2011.

The Civil Society Forum was established following the Prague Summit in 2009, and aims at promoting and sustaining contacts at the level of civil society in the countries covered by the EaP and stimulate dialogue with public authorities. It is also expected to work as an institutional structure where best practices can be shared, in collaboration with civil society organizations from the EU. More information available at http://www.eap-csf.eu/en/about-eap-csf/our-role/.

The first EU-EaP business forum was a Polish initiative and took place in September 2011, in Sopot, Poland, with the aim to support the economic and business development of the EaP. More information available at http://www.easternpartnership.org/community/events/eastern-partnership-business-forum-sopot.

I would like to thank Michal Natorski for making this point clearer.

Interviews with EU official responsible for EU assistance (EuropeAid) at EU Delegation in Georgia, Tbilisi, 11 May 2011; with Thea Tsulukiani, member of the Free Democrats party, Georgia. Tbilisi, 9 May 2011.

This part draws on the author's interviews with officials from the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian governments, both in the South Caucasus and in Brussels, and with EU officials in Brussels and in the Caucasus, conducted from 2009 onwards.

Interviews with Anar Jahangirli, Security Affairs Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. Baku, 2 May 2007; with Hussein Husseinov, political affairs advisor, Embassy of Azerbaijan, Brussels, 27 March 2007.