ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the academic debate related to the general conception of borders and boundaries underlying the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). It discusses the notion of the ENP as an effort to establish a European buffer zone. The chapter considers major policy documents giving guidance to the ENP to assess how far interpretations match with the actual formulation of the ENP. The ENP is a hybrid policy, which can be considered geopolitical in nature and geostrategic in orientation. On the policy level, the initial inspiration from enlargement led to the ENP as a sort of 'enlargement light' policy. ENP countries are far from forming a democratic, prosperous, peaceful and stable ring around the EU. With several neighbours featuring severe deficiencies with regard to the EU's intentions, the ring as conceived by the ENP can atmost be considered a weak buffer.
