Although the European citizens are directly affected by events in the neighbouring regions, the EU and its member states have struggled to address many challenges in pursuing policies that not only effectively promote their interests, but also to build partnerships based on shared values. In order to confront the challenges brought about by the Arab revolts and Russia’s growing assertiveness, the EU undertook a comprehensive review of its European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), in 2011 and 2015, respectively.
In cooperation with the evaluation department (IOB) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, CEPS has carried out an in-depth review of the recent literature of the ENP, which resulted in a book entitled Assessing European Neighbourhood Policy: Perspectives from the Literature. This exercise has produced a rich overview and deep reflection on a wide variety of ENP-related themes, such as conditionality and leverage, the interests vs values dilemma and the role of third parties. The study identifies where there is consensus among scholars and where perspectives and judgements differ. It also identifies important gaps in the literature where further research is needed.