Brussels Briefing with Dirk Schuebel, Hrant Kostanyan, and Stefan Meister
Dirk Schuebel, head of the European External Action Service’s division “Eastern Partnership (EaP) bilateral” provided a comprehensive analysis of both the EaP’s achievements and shortcomings since its inception in 2009. He highlighted that, on the one hand, the EU had succeeded in concluding association agreements with Moldova, Ukraine, and Georgia as well as finalizing a visa-free regime with Moldova. In addition, he said, the EU had managed to increase financial and technical support for the six partners of the EaP. The multilateral track had proved a successful tool in improving civil society dialogue. However, Schuebel acknowledged that, on the other hand, the EU had underestimated the resistance to reform inherent in some EaP countries; in his view, this was not only due to the external problem of lacking incentives provided by the EU, but also to internal problems in the respective EaP countries. Finally, he conceded that the EU had also underestimated the conflict with Russia over the EU’s engagement in the region.
Hrant Kostanyan, Associate Research Fellow of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels, expanded on the EaP’s challenges. He argued that one of the EaP’s central shortfalls had been the EU’s overly technocratic approach toward its Eastern neighbors, copying tools of the enlargement policies while falling short of offering the main incentive – the prospect of EU membership. In addition, Kostanyan criticized the EaP for neglecting the complex economic and cultural ties between the countries of the region and Russia. He concluded by making the case for a more differentiated and customized approach toward the EaP countries.
Stefan Meister, Head of the Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia Program in the DGAP’s Robert Bosch Center, stressed that the current Ukraine crisis revealed both the failure of Russia’s Ukraine policy and the success of the offer made by the EU. However, Meister argued that in this critical period it would be crucial that EU member states come up with a common strategy on how to move forward with the EaP. According to Meister, EU leaders must understand that the EaP region is of geopolitical importance to Russia and that Russia has much more leeway to achieve its goals in the region, given its close economic ties, its military strength, and the region’s energy dependence on Russia.
The panelists were invited by the DGAP’s Alfred von Oppenheim Center for European Policy Studies as part of its Brussels Briefing series. The Center’s head of program, Almut Möller, moderated the event.
