Development of the Eastern Partnership Policy: Mechanism and Problems of Implementation

Abstract

Recent years have been marked by the transformation of the European Neighbourhood Policy within the framework of the Eastern Partnership into the expan‑ sion policy towards Ukraine and Moldova, as well as the withdrawal of Belarus from the programme. These circumstances determine the research’s relevance. The research aims to analyse the mechanisms of development of the Eastern Partnership programme, formulate the problems of the implementation of this initiative at the present stage and propose options for their solution. The methodological basis of the research was compiled on the combination of such methods as analogy, classification, historical, political, legal analysis, forecasting, statistical data analysis, structural ‑functional and comparative. The research characterises the main stages of the Eastern Partnership programme’s evolution and identifies cooperation principles within the initiative across different periods. It also formulates the main directions and features of EU interaction with participating countries, determines trade turnover volumes between partners, assesses Brexit’s impact on programme implementation and explores the reasons and circumstances behind Belarus’ withdrawal from the initiative. The article can be used by scholars whose interests include the problems of European integration, the EU for‑ eign policy and areas of cooperation between the countries of the organisation and the post‑Soviet states.