The European Union’s Transformative Power in the Countries of the Eastern Partnership

Abstract

The article examines the Eastern Partnership (EaP) as the initiative of the European Union (EU) through the prism of the constructivist concepts of soft power, normative power and transformative power. The research focuses on the assessment of the EU’s transformative strength in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus, based on the analysis of declared EU policy goals and instruments and the real results of political reforms in partner countries. The results of the study show that the EaP has little transformative impact and needs further revision. The analysis of empirical indicators in the field of political transformation of the EaP countries shows that since its inception, as well as after the signing of Association Agreements with three countries and the renewal of the European Neighborhood Policy in 2015, no radical changes have been made, and the EU’s influence on the course of reforms has been insignificant. Institutional and geopolitical constraints and challenges that complicate the EU’s ability to influence its eastern neighbours are addressed. The article analyses prospects for strengthening the effectiveness of the EaP in the context of its latest update after 2020.

The Impact of the European Union on the Endorsement of the Justice Reform in Albania

“…The doctrine concurs that the extent of the EU's influence in potential candidate countries and neighboring countries defines it as a transformative power. Normative power can delineate the EU's position internationally and in its dealings with other countries, but the EU can be a transformative power only in potential candidate countries (Dimitrova and Chulitskaya, 2016;Börzel and Lebanidze, 2016;Sydoruk, Pavliuk, and Tymeichuk, 2022).…”