CIAO DATE: 03/05

Europe's next shore: the Black Sea region after EU enlargement

Abstract

With its mosaic of problems, and their potential consequences, the wider Black Sea region is one of the more important challenges that the enlarged European Union will face. So far, the EU and the Black Sea region are linked together by a member state (Greece) and accession countries (Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey), as well as special relations with Ukraine and Russia. Once Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey become EU members, the Union will directly border the Black Sea, accounting for half of its coastline. The question now is not whether but rather when the EU will become a Black Sea power. As such, it will have to develop policies for regional issues and deal with threats to regional stability, because it will be virtually impossible to prevent various crises around the Black Sea from affecting EU Europe. Finding ways to prevent likely destabilising factors from arising at the regional level and dealing with them before they affect the EU area will be a trial for the enlarged Union.

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