ABSTRACT
Romanian and Bulgarian European integration constitute at the same time the peak of European Union (EU) expansion and the limit of its influence in the Black Sea area. In the Black Sea area, the end of the bipolar era was marked by the retreat of the traditional power, Russia, and the progressive irruption of the USA, as well as to a lesser extent the EU. The EU essentially appears as a theoretical model, and more practically, as a milk cow, since the domestic reforms adopted by the Black Sea states as a result of EU recommendations are largely motivated by the expected financial benefits. The United States and the EU appear as clearly reformative powers, although on a different scale of action. Since the end of the 1990s, the USA has tried actively to reshape the Black Sea security environment by favoring NATO implantation and the integration of the riparian states into the Euro-Atlantic security model.
