ABSTRACT

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is currently included in the portfolio of the Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fle. such as the inclusion of provisions dedicated to the neighbourhood in the Treaty of Lisbon. When the neighbourhood policy was launched, the breakaway region appeared as a black hole between Moldova and Ukraine from which various traffics reached Western Europe. When launching the neighbourhood policy, the EU was able to build in the South upon toolbox of the Barcelona process and record in region-building. The ENP did not constitute per se a rupture with previous EU policies in the post-Soviet area regarding approaches to region-building. The EU's approach to conflict resolution can therefore be characterised as a policy limbo between action and non-action'. This insight into the ENP's approaches to region-building confirms the picture of an EU foreign policy which has been shaped gradually, as EU institutions and policymakers adjust policy tools and content according to experience.