his background brief examines the relations between
the EU and its eastern neighbours through a case study
of Georgia. What are the underpinnings and factors
driving EU policies such as the European Neighbourhood
Policy (ENP) and the Eastern Partnership (EaP)? Is EU
membership for these eastern countries the end goal?
Georgia, a small country in the South Caucasus, has
been thrust into the limelight in the wake of its 2003
Rose Revolution and its 2008 war with Russia, with
implications for EU-Georgia relations. This relationship
is fraught with asymmetric expectations – Georgia has
been more than won over as part of the EU’s ‘ring of
friends’, evident in how its leaders and people have
expressed a desire to join the EU. However there is
currently little if any reciprocal desire on the EU’s part,
and understandably so, given the persistence of
Georgia’s territorial conflicts.