The EU’s Eastern Partnership [What Think Tanks are Thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

The Eastern Partnership was launched in 2009 as a regional programme of the European Neighbourhood Policy to promote integration and cooperation between the European Union, its Member States and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It has achieved limited progress, partly due to conflicts and political instability in the region. Nevertheless, it has sent a signal of the EU’s willingness to strengthen ties with the region, offering incentives to governments and civil society to push ahead with democratic and economic reforms. Three of the six former Soviet republics involved – Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – have concluded Association Agreements and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreements with the EU.

This note offers links to recent commentaries and reports by major international think tanks on the Eastern Partnership. More reports on the topic can be found in a previous edition of ‘What Think Tanks are Thinking’.

General studies

Dilemmas of Europeanisation: Political choices and economic transformations in the Eastern Partnership countries
Latvian Institute for International Affairs, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2016

Eastern Europe’s superfluous men
Carnegie Europe, October 2016

Key actors in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood: Competing perspectives on geostrategic tensions
Finnish Institute of International Affairs, September 2016

More effective EU democracy support in the Eastern Partnership: Ideas for the Slovak EU presidency and beyond
EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, July 2016

A shared European home: The European Union, Russia and the Eastern Partnership
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, May 2016

ENP review: Towards effective EU action in the Eastern neighbourhood?
EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, May 2016

Civil society and the fight against corruption: Promoting effective anti-corruption policies by reforming the public sector and law enforcement authorities
Institute for European Politics, February 2016

Towards a new EU Global Strategy: Challenges and opportunities in Eastern Neighbourhood
Central European Policy Institute, December 2015

A more geopolitical Eastern Partnership: U-turn or “the lady’s not for turning”?
Latvian Institute of International Affairs, November 2015

Ten talking points from the new ENP
European Council for Foreign Relations, November 2015

Eastern Partnership revisited
Stefan Batory Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, October 2015

Belarus

Grand political media barometer report on communication of Belarus’ independent political forces
Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies, September 2016

A containing ally: Belarus’ regional role in the context of the new containment
Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade, September 2016

The European Union and Belarus: Time for a new policy
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, February 2016

Belarus: Time for a ‘principled’ re-engagement
European Union Institute for Security Studies, February 2016

Georgia

What the EU can, may and should do to support Georgia
Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, September 2016

Georgia and Europe: A short guide
Centre for European Policy Studies, August 2016

Deepening EU-Georgian relations: What, why and how?
Centre for European Policy Studies, August 2016

Transfer of know-how to small and mid-size businesses in Georgia: White paper
Center for Social and Economic Research, September 2015

Moldova

Ever-intractable Transdniestria
Carnegie Europe, November 2016

Republic of Moldova 2016 State of the country report
Expert Group, September 2016

Deepening EU-Moldovan relations: What, why and how?
Centre for European Policy Studies, August 2016

Moldova and Europe: A short guide
Centre for European Policy Studies, August 2016

The Europeanisation of Moldova: Is the EU on the right track?
Clindendael, July 2016

Financial Monitor: An analysis of main reforms in the financial sector of Moldova
Expert Group, July 2016

Moldova at an impasse: Can the formation of the latest government forestall crisis?
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, March 2016

A useful crisis for Moldova
Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, January 2016

Transnistria zig-zagging towards a DCFTA
Polish Institute of International Affairs, January 2016

Ukraine

Ukraine and Europe: A short guide
Centre for European Policy Studies, August 2016

Deepening EU-Ukrainian relations: What, why and how?
Centre for European Policy Studies, August 2016

Lessons from Ukraine: Why a Europe-led geo-economic strategy is succeeding
Transatlantic Academy, July 2016

#EngagEUkraine: Engagement der Ukrainer in Polen und Deutschland
Institut für Europäische Politik, May 2016

Elements for an Eastern Partnership plus: A new association package for Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine
Romanian Center for European Policies, June 2015

Other countries

Not frozen! The unresolved conflicts over Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh in light of the crisis over Ukraine
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, July 2016

A deepening and widening conflict: The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute and the regional context
Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale, June 2016

The frozen conflicts of the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood and their impact on the respect of human rights
Trans European Policy Studies Association, April 2016

A forgotten conflict: Escalation in Nagorno Karabagh. Unpredictable effects of ‘the no peace, no war’ situation
Hellenic Foundation for European Foreign Policy, April 2016

Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: Why the ‘black garden’ will not blossom any time soon
Egmont, April 2016

Changing perceptions of the West in the South Caucasus: Adoration no more
Chatham House, February 2016

The limited influence of the European Union in Armenia and Azerbaijan: A domestic explanation
College of Europe, December 2015

EU democratization policies in the Neighbourhood countries and Russia’s reaction as a destabilizing factor. A comparative case study of Georgia and Moldova
College of Europe, November 2015

Traditional religion and political power: Examining the role of the church in Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Moldova
Foreign Policy Centre, October 2015

Azerbaijan’s risky game between Russia and the West
Polish Institute of International Affairs, October 2015

#ElectricYerevan: why Armenia’s future is in Europe
Istituto Affari Internazionali, July 2015

The state of corruption: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine
Transparency International, July 2015