THE CHALLENGES OF REGIONAL COOPERATION. THE EUROPEAN BLACK SEA DIMENSION
Corresponding author:
[email protected]
Accepted
27 March 2026
Available Online
15 March 2015
Abstract
THE ORGANISATION FOR BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION (BSEC) BRINGS TOGETHER ONE OF THE MOST DIVERSE REGIONS IN THE WORLD. FORMED FOLLOWING THE END OF THE COLD WAR FROM TWO OPPOSING POLITICAL AND MILITARY BLOCS, THE BSEC SERVES AS AN EXEMP LARY MODEL OF THE SPIRIT IT TAKES TO OVERCOME DIFFERENCES AND TO JOINTLY MAKE PROGRESS. THE PROSPECT OF EU ENLARGEMENT IN THE AREA IN COMBINATION WITH THE READINESS OF BSEC MEMBER STATES FOR CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH EUROPE MERITS SERIOUS ATTENTION. THIS PA PER ARGUES THAT BSEC SHOULD FOCUS MORE STRONGLY RIGHT NOW ON A SET OF CORE FUNCTIONS THAT HAVE AN INTRINSICALLY IMPORTANT REGIONAL ASPECT, RATHER THAN ASPIRE TO BE A GENERAL PURPOSE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION COVERING ALMOST ALL DESIRABLE POLICY OBJECTIVES OF THE MEMBER STATES.
Keywords
EUROPEAN UNION
BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION (BSEC)
BLACK SEA
Full Text
The body of this article is intentionally hidden on the public page. Please use the PDF reader or the PDF download for the complete text.
References
[1]
Adams, Terry D.; Michael Emerson; Lawrence Mee; MariusVahl ; Europe’s Black Sea Dimension, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, 2002;
[2]
Celac, Sergiu; “The European Union and Maritime Issues in the Black Sea Area”, ICBSS Policy Brief no. 3, International Centre for Black Sea Studies, December 2006;
[3]
Ecobescu, Nicolae ; “BSEC AT FIFTEEN: Enhancing Eff ectiveness through Better Performance and Meaningful Institutional Reform”, ICBSS Policy Brief no. 2, International Centre for Black Sea Studies, September 2006
[4]
Emerson, Michael; Marius Vahl ; “Europe’s Black Sea Dimension: Model European Regionalism Pret-à-Porter”, in Michael Emerson et al. , Europe’s Black Sea Dimension , CEPS Paperback, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, 2002, p. 15;
[5]
Emerson, Michael ; What Should the Community of Democratic Choice do? , CEPS Policy Brief No. 99, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, 2006;
[6]
Grotzky, Daniel; Mirela Isic ; “The Black Sea Region: Clashing Identities and Risks to European Security”, CAP Policy Analysis no. 4, Research Group on European Affairs, October 2008;
[7]
Hamilton, Daniel; Gerhard Mangott ; The Wider Black Sea Region in the 21st Century – Strategic, Economic and Energy Perspectives , edited by Centre for Transatlantic Relations, John Hopkins University, Washington, D.C., 2009;
[8]
Hatto, Ronald; Odette Tomescu; “The EU and the Wider Black Sea Region: Challenges and Policy Options”, Garnet Policy Brief no. 5, January 2008, available online at: http://www.garnet-eu.org [accessed 7 February 2015];
[9]
International Centre for Black Sea Studies , ICBSS Homepage, available online at: http://icbss.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=264 , [accessed 30 January 2015]
[10]
Henderson, Karen; Carol Weaver (eds.) ; The Black Sea Region and EU Policy: The Challenge of Divergent Agendas, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2013;
[11]
Homorozean, Alina ; Regional Black Sea Architecture and Consequences for the Regional Cooperation Framework, Romanian Journal of European Affairs, vol. 10, no. 4/2010, pp. 5-25;
[12]
Japaridze Tedo; Panagiota Manoli; Dimitrios Triantaphyllou; Yannis Tsantoulis ; The EU’s Ambivalent Relationship with the BSEC: Reflecting on the Past, Mapping out the Future , ICBSS Policy Brief no. 20, International Centre for Black Sea Studies, January 2010;
[13]
Karadeniz, Bülent ; “Security and stability architecture in the Black Sea”, in Perceptions -Journal of International Affairs, winter 2007;
[14]
King, Charles; The Black Sea. A History, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006;
[15]
Manoli, Panag iota; “Reflecting on the BSEC: Achievements, Limitations and the Way Forward”, ICBSS, Policy Brief No.1, July 2006;
[16]
Manoli, Panagiota; Stelios Stavridis ; “An Emerging Euro - Black Sea Parliamentary Dimension? Contributing to the Black Sea Synergy”, Interna tional Center for Black Sea Studies (ICBCC), Policy Brief no. 9, December 2008;
[17]
Mee, Lawrence ; “Protecting the Black Sea Environment: A Challenge for Cooperation and Sustainable Development in Europe”, in Michael Emerson et al. , Europe’s Black Sea Dimensio n, CEPS Paperback, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, 2002;
[18]
Philippart, Eric ; The Euro -Mediterranean Partnership: Unique Features, First Results and Future Challenges, CEPS Middle East Working Paper No. 10, Centre for European Policy Studies, B russels, 2003;
[19]
Pop, Adrian ; “Regionalism, sub -regionalism and security in the Black Sea Region: research summary”, in Euro -Atlantic Studies, no. 7, University of Bucharest, Centre for Euro -Atlantic Studies, 2004;
[20]
Pop, Adrian; Dan Manoleli ; Towards a Europe an Strategy in the Black Sea Area. The Territorial Cooperation, European Institute of Romania (IER), Study no. 4, Bucharest, December 2007;
[21]
Smith, Karen; European Foreign Policy in a Changing World, Cambridge, Polity, 2003, p. 84;
[22]
Socor, Vladimir; “European Union’s Energy Paper: a Muffled Call to a Slow Wake up”, Eurasia Daily Monitor, 27, March 2006;
[23]
Tassinari, Fabrizio ; Security and Integration in the EU Neighbourhood: The case for Regionalism , CEPS Working Document No. 226, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, 2005;
[24]
Tsantoulis, Yannis ; “Black Sea Synergy and Eastern Partnership: Different Centres of Gravity, Complementarity or Confusing Signals?”, ICBSS Policy Papers, no. 11, February 2009; Research and Science Today No. 1(9)/2015
[25]
Vahl, Marius; Sergiu Celac ; “Elements for an EU Strategy towards the Black Sea Region”, unpublished paper, p. 16;
[26]
Vahl, Marius ; The EU and Black Sea Regional Cooperation: Some Challenges for BSEC , CEPS Commentary, no. 15, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, April 2005; *** ”The EU and Black Sea regional cooperation: Some challenges for BSEC” - amended version of a presentation at a parliamentary conference on “The Wider Black Sea Region in the New European Architecture”, organized by the Hellenic Parliament with the support of the International C enter for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS), Athens, 8 April 2005, accessed January 22 nd, 2015, http://www.euractiv.com/east- mediterranean/eu-black-sea-regional-cooperation-challenges-bsec/article-138597 *** Comission on The Black Sea, ”A 2020 Vision for The Black Sea Region”, Report (May 2010), accessed January 11th, 2015, www.blackseacom.eu *** Directorate of Policy Planning, Council of Europe, ”The Pursuit of Undivided Europe. Experts’ Views on the Political Relevance of the Council of Europe” (Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, 2014) accessed February 8th, 2015, http://www.coe.int/t/policy-planning/Think_tanks/Pursuit_of_Undivided_Europe.pdf