Europe’s new region: The Black Sea in the wider Europe neighbourhood

Abstract

Situated at the crossroads between Europe and Asia as well as Russia and the Middle East, the Black Sea is more than a region of local strategic significance, representing an axis of increasing geo‐political importance to the European Union. With its mosaic of problems, the wider Black Sea region is one of the more important challenges that the enlarged EU will face. Once Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey become members, the EU will directly border the Black Sea, accounting half of its coastline. As such, it will have to develop policies for regional issues and problems. Finding ways to prevent likely destabilizing factors to come to the fore in regional level and dealing with them before affecting the EU area would be a trial for the EU, which so far resisted calls to develop a regional approach towards the Black Sea and to actively participate in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization. It might be the right time now to reconsider that position in the ‘wider Europe‐neighbourhood’ context.