ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to 'interview' the existing literature on its methodological and theoretical consciousness, and examines the challenges and inform scholars of the European neighbourhood policy (ENP) about potential pitfalls and limitations. It reviews the state of the art in terms of the research object. The theoretical and methodological challenges in the study of the ENP originate in the ENP itself. The overarching theoretical and methodological challenge, hinted by K. Lynggaard and I. Manners, concerns the presence of actors that are external to the ENP, the European Union (EU) and the countries participating in it. The role of a range of international political actors as well as external and internal processes has been highlighted in the literature. Thus, studies concerned with the impact of the ENP need to be able to methodologically isolate the EU/ENP effect and theoretically frame it within the study of the ENP.
