Abstract
The European Union's Black Sea Policy: In Light of Recent Developments
Until recently, the European Union failed to develop a regional policy toward the Black Sea due to the region's geographic distance from its borders. The accession of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007, however, expanded the Union to the Black Sea coast. Surely enough, European enlargement entailed not only new opportunities but also new threats, security concerns and problems. As such, the situation at hand compelled the EU to formulate a more systematic policy toward the Black Sea. The initial section of this study concentrates on the region's importance for the Union from a strategic, economic and security standpoint while the following part describes new policies and projects that the Union developed by merit of its neighborhood with this important region. The final section questions how effective the EU's policies toward the Black Sea have been with reference to recent developments in the region and recommends policies to increase the Union's influence over the region.<
Keywords
European Union, Black Sea, Neighborhood Policy, energy.