Research Project

The relations of the European Union with the eastern neighbours - between neighbourhood and enlargement policy 

The focus of this research project which is funded by the Otto Wolff-Foundation is the question of the EU's potential and limits in shaping its neighbourhood region in the East and how individual neighbourhood countries can be influenced by enlargement or neighbourhood policies.

The right way of supporting the eastern neighbours in coping with their transition problems is highly debated between the EU states. The respective debates and particular national positions within the EU's 27 member countries are a central object of analysis within the project. In this respect, the reciprocal interaction of enlargement and neighbourhood policies is an essential aspect of the research.

The research project is part of the programme "Dialogue Europe of the Otto Wolff Foundation". It supersedes the preceding research project "Enlargement, European Neighbourhood Policy and Consolidation of the European Union". Within its framework sessions of the study group "Enlargement / Neighbourhood Policy" and IEP lunch debates are conducted and publications are being issued.

In this regard, the IEP's cooperation with the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) network in which research institutes in in the EU member states work together is crucial. The internet publication "EU-27 Watch" which is edited and coordinated by the IEP offers a regular "state of the Union" report on key national debates on deepening and reforms inside the European Union as well as on enlargement and neighbourhood policy. "EU-27 Watch" is a continuation of the successful internet publication "Enlargement/Agenda 2000-Watch" of the IEP in coperation with TEPSA .

Publications

More information in German:
Project activities

Project Team:
Prof. Dr. Mathias Jopp
Dr. Katrin Böttger
Dorothee Pätzold

The object of this research project was the Europeanisation of the central state administration, i.e. the government and the ministerial bureaucracy, in five countries of Central and Eastern Europe, namely the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. Europeanisation is dealt with under the specific conditions of transformation and gradual integration into the EU. The project was funded by the VolkswagenFoundation. The political and academic relevance of this topic is based on the assumption that transformation of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the interrelation with the parallel running integration of these countries into the European Union is substantially influenced by the public administrations of candidate countries and their individual capacities. Central administrations are in a key role in shaping the preparation of their countries for membership.

The research resulted in a publication: Barbara Lippert/Gaby Umbach: The Pressure of Europeanisation. From post-communist state administrations to normal players in the EU system". This book deals with EU-driven Europeanisation of the public administrations in the above mentioned five countries of Central and Eastern Europe that joined the EU in 2004. Since the early nineties, preparation for membership has gradually worked as a factor and incentive to shape and develop structures in institutions capable of meeting the obligations and needs of a future EU member state. While challenges arise from both legacies of the past and new demands after effective membership the authors argue that the five new members will most likely develop into normal players in the EU system.

Publications

Project activities

Project Team

Institut für Europäische Politik
Dr. Mathias Jopp; Dr. Barbara Lippert
Bundesallee 23
D-10717 Berlin
Tel: +49 - 30 - 88 91 34 - 0
Fax: +49 - 30 - 88 91 34 - 99
E-Mail: barbara.lippert@iep-berlin.de / theider@iep-berlin.de

Jean-Monnet-Lehrstuhl
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wessels; Gaby Umbach, M.A.
Forschungsinstitut für Politische Wissenschaften und Europäische Fragen
Universität zu Köln
Gottfried-Keller-Str. 6
D-50931 Köln
Tel: +49 - 221 - 470 41331 oder +49 - 221- 940 2540
Fax: +49 - 221- 940 2542
E-Mail: wessels@uni-koeln.de / gaby.umbach@uni-koeln.de

Project Partners

Estonia:
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Drechsler (senior expert), Külli Viks (correspondent)
Chair of Public Administration and Social Policy, University of Tartu

Poland:
Prof. Dr. Nowina Konopka (senior expert); Prof. Dr. Christian Franck (senior expert); Dorota Pyszna (correspondent)
College of Europe Natolin, Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA)

Slovenia:
Prof. Marjan Svetlicic (senior expert); Irena Brinar (correspondent)
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana

Czech Republic:
Ing. Petr Pavlik (senior expert), Ing. Jan Hrích/Mgr. Ladislav Dolezal (correspondent)
Centre for European Analyses, Institute of International Relations, Prague

Hungary:
Prof. Dr. András Inotai (senior expert), Krisztina Vida (correspondent)
Institute for World Economics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest

Research Project

 
"Enlargement, European Neighbourhood Policy and Consolidation of the European Union"

This research project was funded by the Otto Wolff-Foundation. Its key aim was an ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the enlargement policy of the European Union, of related political and institutional adaptation processes and of the financial framework for the enlarged EU. The interrelation between and the problems of enlargement and deepening of the European Union as well as the debate on the limits and borders of the EU, topics that were mostly associated with Turkish membership, but in a wider perspective also with the Ukraine, were part of the research agenda.

A second focus was the development of relations between the enlarged European Union and the "wider Europe". Special emphasis was put on politico-strategic questions of the European neighbourhood policy and probable new types of bilateral agreements, ranging from cooperation to association and partial integration. Principles, goals and political and institutional provisions and instruments of these contractual relationships were discussed and analysed.

These topics fed into the IEP"s programme "Dialogue Europe of the Otto Wolff-Foundation". They were covered in conferences and seminars, for example meetings of the IEP study group "Enlargement / Neighbourhood Policy" chaired by MEP Elmar Brok, or the IEP "lunch debates", and in many of the IEP"s publications such as the quarterly journal "integration" and the "Yearbook of European integration".

It was of utmost importance for this research project that it was carried through in a Europe-wide network of researchers and experts dealing with consequences and problems of enlargement and questions of the new neighbourhood policy of the EU. In this regard, the IEP"s cooperation with the TEPSA network (Trans European Policy Studies Association) in which research institutes in 27 EU member states work together as well as the IEP"s collaboration with the Network of Excellence "EU-CONSENT" was crucial. The joint internet publication "EU-25/27 Watch" which was edited and coordinated by the IEP for EU-CONSENT offered a regular "state of the Union" report on key national debates on deepening and reforms inside the European Union as well as on enlargement and neighbourhood policy. "EU-27 Watch" is a continuation of the successful internet publication "Enlargement/Agenda 2000-Watch" of the IEP in cooperation with TEPSA and supported by the Otto Wolff-Foundation.

Publications

Project Activities

Project Team:

Dr. Barbara Lippert
Prof. Dr. Mathias Jopp

The proclaimed "New Europe", from the Charter of Paris in 1990, is almost 20 years later still a work in progress. With the eastern enlargement in 2004/2007, the EU made essential contributions to the transformation of the continent and order-building in post-wall Europe. In the future, the EU has to provide strategic answers and set the path in view of the continuation and adaptation of its enlargement policy and the development of the new European Neighborhood policy (ENP).

The aim of the IEP-Monitor "20 Years of a New Europe" is:

• to communicate central research results in the context of EU-Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy,
• to present IEP-publications and articles, e.g. from the quarterly journal integration and from the online publication EU-25/27 Watch,
• to present publications and activities from TEPSA and EU-CONSENT to spread the expertise of these two networks.

Publications
Here you can find publications of the Institute for European Politics and from partner institutes.

Networks
This site presents the research networks TEPSA and EU-Consent as well as the participating partner institutes.

Links
The link list gives a small overview over relevant internetpages and documents.