ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU) is confronted with an extremely challenging neighbourhood. In its own words, the EU is faced with an ‘arc of instability’ on its borders (Mogherini 2015: 1). These challenges demand an EU response. For most of the post-Cold War period, the EU has relied on the power of attraction to expand its membership, broaden its scope and stabilise post-Cold War Europe. However, the EU faces significant internal challenges affecting the extent to which it can project a coherent foreign policy response to instability in its region. Foreign policy, an area which the EU states and central institutions have consistently struggled with, is key to understanding the evolution of European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The EU’s complex and contested internal politics and the difficulty of projecting a narrative that articulates the EU’s role in the neighbourhood space have challenged the EU’s credibility as a regional actor (Jones and Clark 2008). Despite these impediments, the EU has sought to find a way to influence the course of emerging events and the actors beyond the EU’s borders. This chapter examines how the EU has sought to craft a strategic narrative of its neighbourhood, to shape its regional milieu.
