The Fifth Wider Europe Conference, Brussels 2008

This conference fell at an (as usual) interesting juncture in relations between the European Union and its eastern neighbours. Due to the kind assistance of former Polish MEP Bronisław Geremek, we were able to hold the conference at the European Parliament in Brussels. The conference reviewed progress in the development of the Union’s European Neighbourhood Policy and the outlook for relations between the Union and the countries of Eastern Europe. Separate sessions considered developments in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

The first session on Wednesday reviewed political developments in Ukraine over the last two years and was chaired by George Kolankiewicz the Managing Director of CEELBAS. Our three speakers were: Natalya Shapovalova (ICPS, Kyiv), who spoke on institutional developments and possible changes to the Ukrainian constitution, Nat Copsey (JMWEN/Birmingham and a CEELBAS Post-doctoral fellow) who spoke on possible Nato accession, the emergence of BYUT as an all-Ukraine political grouping and the limited prospects for greater political stability in Ukraine. Peter Rodgers (Birmingham) acted as discussant. The following session analysed the new enhanced agreement between the EU and Ukraine, from the viewpoint of the Union and of Ukraine, with a legal appreciation by Christophe Hillion (JMWEN/Birmingham) and Roman Petrov (EUI). Alan Mayhew was the discussant and considered the questions around the negotiation of the new FTA+ agreement, which are just starting. This will be the first of a new generation of EU trade agreements, which will include regulatory harmonisation.

The third session focused on Russia. Nikolai Ivanov from the Russian mission to the EU, Director of the EU-Russia Centre Fraser Cameron and Derek Avere from Birmingham, examined its political and economic development and analysed the main issues in its relations with the EU. While Russia is not part of ENP, it is a sort of silent partner affecting to some extent the way Member States approach the policy. Then for the first time in JMWEN conferences we turned our attention to Belarus. Giselle Bosse (University of Maastricht), Matthew Frear (CREES, Birmingham and CEELBAS scholar) and Alexandra Goujon (IEP, Paris) discussed the current political and economic situation of the country, its relation with the EU and Russia, and the prospects for change in these regards. Member States are not unanimous about the way the Union should treat Belarus and this has led to some heated debate in the past.

Finally we looked at developments in European Neighbourhood Policy and the future of the Union’s relations with eastern Europe. Hugues Mingarelli, the Director General responsible for ENP, spoke about the significance of the policy in developing stable relations with eastern Europe, while diplomats from Germany and the Netherlands gave their views from a Member State perspective on the future of the policy. The final presentation was given by Maxime Lefevbre, an official from the French Permanent Representation in Brussels and looked to the future in the run-up to the French Presidency of the EU and in the light of political developments, both in the Union and in eastern Europe. We are very grateful to our sponsors for making the event possible: CEELBAS, the European Parliament, as well as to those who have supported us in the past: the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Pekao Bank and the European Commission. The participants also comprised of research postgraduates, academic researchers and policy specialists.

Our next two events will be held in Berlin and Paris respectively. The Berlin Wider Europe conference, which will be held in collaboration with the German Council on Foreign Relations, will look at the attitudes of the Member States towards European Neighbourhood Policy, whilst the Paris conference will look at the problems of balancing the interests of the EU’s eastern neighbours with those of the Mediterranean countries, at a point in time when the French proposal for a Mediterranean Union will be high on the agenda of the French Presidency. Publications from the conference at available from the Wider Europe website

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