ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of EU member states in the EU–Russian relationship. It provides an overview of how EU states have shaped common policies towards Russia and how Russia’s bilateral relations with members, candidate states and EU partners, notably Ukraine post-2014, have impacted the EU–Russian relationship and national perceptions of European security. Against the backdrop of the 2020 British exit, the chapter reviews changes brought about by EU enlargements since the mid-1990s, sketching out how further accession candidates may affect the EU–Russian relationship. Identifying both key sources of conflict and drivers of cooperation, the chapter explores how and why, as the EU expanded from 12 to 28, the ‘new’ and ‘old’; Eastern and Western; Northern and Southern; small, medium-sized and large states introduced new initiatives but also a range of problems to the EU–Russian agenda. Different theoretical perspectives are reviewed that may be applied to analyse their role, highlighting in particular the Europeanisation perspective regarding Russia and how it captures dynamics of policy change and continuity. Russia’s own policy choices beyond 2014 events and the inexorable tensions between national interests and joint ambitions to ‘act as a Union’ towards Russia generate ample empirical material and avenues for future research.
