Subregional Cooperation And Integration In Europe

This unique book explores what subregions are in a European context and what roles they fulfil in relation to the European integration process, exploring how subregional cooperation and integration in Europe largely take place in the shadow of the European integration process.

Based on a major international research project undertaken by The Institute for East West Studies, this book provides the first comprehensive analysis of an important, but little explored, feature of post-Cold War Europe: the emergence of subregional cooperation in areas such as the Barents, the Baltic Sea, Central Europe and the Black Sea. It analyses the role of subregional cooperation in the new Europe, provides detailed case studies of the new subregional groups and examines their relations with NATO and the European Union.

The year 2008 will be a decisive one for the process of regional cooperation in South East Europe (SEE). First, the transition from the Stability Pact to the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) will become effective with the establishment of the RCC and its Secretariat in Sarajevo, indicating a major evolution towards more regional ownership. Secondly, the renewed and reframed Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), or CEFTA 2006, will officially enter into force for all parties. Third, the Slovenian European Union presidency will endeavor to reaffirm the 2003 EU Thessaloniki Agenda, and work towards the completion of the network of Stabilization and Association Agreements and the enhancement of regional cooperation in several areas. This book addresses the challenges and prospects of regional cooperation in SEE by considering the increased diversity in the region, the new divisions and contradictions induced by the latest round of EU enlargement, the coexistence of numerous cooperation programs, and the still unresolved hard security issues. The book also discusses why SEE countries should embrace the process of wider regional cooperation that goes beyond too-narrowly conceived regional frameworks. A pan-European approach links SEE with countries in the Black Sea region, the Caucasus, Central Europe, and the Mediterranean basin. Upgraded and broadened regional cooperation in SEE would not interfere with, but rather complement and reinforce, EU integration and the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), requiring both innovative thinking and the careful recalibration of previous regional initiatives.

This book provides a comprehensive study into the promotion of regional integration as a central pillar of European Union (EU) relations with the rest of the world. It is a strategy to deal with a core security challenge: the transformation of conflicts and, in particular, regional conflicts. Yet to what extent has the promotion of regional integration been successful in transforming conflicts? What can we regard as the core mechanisms of such an impact? This volume offers a comprehensive assessment of the nexus between promoting integration and conflict transformation. The authors systematically compare the consequences of EU involvement in eight conflicts in four world regions within a common framework. In doing so, they focus on the promotion of integration as a preventative strategy to avoid conflicts turning violent and as a long-term strategy to transform violent conflicts by placing them in a broader institutional context. The book will be of use to students and scholars interested in European foreign policy, comparative regionalism, and conflict resolution.

Much has been said about the driving forces of region-building processes or regionalization worldwide, yet few systematic and comparative studies have been conducted on how regions can contribute to the building of other regions - and more concretely, how the European Union has 'pushed' for regionalization worldwide. This comparative book investigates the impact that the EU has on regionalization elsewhere through its inter-regional relations. Covering agriculture, trade, ASEAN, NAFTA, MERCOSUR and Commonwealth amongst other topics, it investigates whether the EU contributes directly, as well as indirectly, to increased regional integration in different parts of the world.