This paper explores the implications of the European neighbourhood policy as an ambitious foreign policy of the EU. It suggests that the European neighbourhood policy can be seen as an attempt to reconcile two potentially contradictory processes. The first is on the verge of confirming the border areas of demarcation and division, in which borders are conceived such as border lines, border areas and barriers that protect the European Union and its citizens. The second consists of a challenge to open the borders of the EU and involves the transformation of the external borders of the EU in areas of interaction, opportunities and exchanges, with the emphasis on the significance of the limits.

Published:
Center for European Policy Studies (Belgium)

Publication Year:
2010

Author(s):
Bohdana Dimitrovova. Associate researcher of the Centre for studies of European policy in Brussels

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