European Political Community: A New Strategic Framework on the Horizon?

Abstract

Although an ambitious initiative, the European Political Community (EPC) has left experts wondering as to what it will entail in practice. Its greatest advantage (and disadvantage) is that it can still become anything countries happen to agree on: an inter-governmental, non- institutionalized platform, where leaders can discuss strategic questions of the continent without visible commitments, written statements, or pressure to deliver results. When it comes to the enlargement of the Western Balkans and the Associated Trio, the EPC is unlikely to speed up the process or deliver tangible steps forward. Its added value for the (potential) candidate countries remains that they are also included in the debates concerning European questions of strategic importance.