The seminar included a high-level panel on ‘Values and interests in the EU policy towards the neighbours’ and a session on the 'Achievements and shortcomings of EU policies towards the neighbours'. This was followed by discussions in four working groups addressing the following issues: Democracy and the Rule of Law; Sub-regional Integration and Unresolved Conflicts; Borders, and Energy Security. The seminar also included a high-level panel on the views from neighbouring states, both from the East and the South.
Participants were asked to consider a number of questions, including:
Should the EU pursue a common approach towards all its neighbours or should it differentiate? How to combine bilateralism and regionalism?
Should the EU act in uniformity or allow a group of the most interested countries to take the lead in defining its neighbourhood policy? How to combine flexibility with coherence and consistency?
What are the key areas of the EU engagement with the neighbours?
