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The European Neighbourhood Policy : Normative Power As A Vehicle For Consensus

Decent Essays

1. The European Neighbourhood Policy – Normative power as a vehicle for consensus
In 2004, the European Union sought to establish cordial partnerships with its immediate neighbouring countries. The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is a set of policies aimed at approaching those immediate neighbours of the EU. As Article 8 of the Treaty of the European Union explicitly states: “The Union shall develop a special relationship with the neighbouring countries, aiming to establish an area of prosperity and good neighbourliness, founded on the values of the Union and characterized by close and peaceful relations based on cooperation.”
The decision to activate such a mechanism lay with the unwillingness – or one could rather say, impossibility- to initiate membership procedures to third countries. The EU felt this was enough of an incentive to bring together its neighbours without giving them access to full membership and, at the same time, to guarantee - as former president of the Commission Romano Prodi said - security and prosperity to this ring of friends. Therefore, the creation of the ENP was meant to support the countries in their political, economic and social development, hence, there would be no sharp socio-economic differences between the EU and its immediate neighbours. Twelve of the sixteen neighbouring countries accepted the invitation of the EU, which translated into accepting the ENP Action Plan .
The Action Plan envisaged a more tailored approach to tackle

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