INTRODUCTION
After the Second World War and in the framework of the European reconstruction, the Potsdam Agreements that internationalized the Ruhr basin were established; Zone of rivalries for the production of basic products for the industry like coal and steel.
It would be from this international administration1 that it would be thought of a process of European integration that was born2 with the creation of the ECSC Treaty (European Coal and Steel Community). It would be France that would trigger the process from the Schuman Declaration3, the new one of May 1950. The ECSC is based on basic pillars: the launching of a common market, common objectives and institutions endowed with effective and immediate powers.
The evolution towards the present European Union has been based on economic and technical cooperation first (50 years), 20 years ago that was reinforced by the democratic legitimacy that resided exclusively in the Council with the direct election of European Parliament, and in the last 13 years where the wrapping of a political union has been built.
During all these years, Europe has been expanding and has done so based on criteria established in the Copenhagen European Council (June 1993). Aspiring countries to be part of the European Union had to respond to three different categories5, but also to a pre-accession strategy that had the objective of coordinating a set of initiatives and relations between the EU and countries that could be incorporated into ' It consisted of two phases: the preparation phase and the negotiation phase.
If we take into account that there are no borders to define where Europe begins and where Europe ends, each new EU enlargement has brought new neighbors, which may end up asking for their membership. Hence the first question arises: is it good for the EU to widen continuously? If so, can political and institutional projects fit? Or could you only think of an EU of free trade on a continental scale?
On March 11, 2003, the European Commission adopted a Communication establishing a new framework for relations with the countries of the East and South neighboring the European Union to create a "circle of friends "Based on peace and cooperation: Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia. In this way, and with this new status of the neighbor, they want to put limits that do not mean that the doors to new memberships are definitively closed, but it is an indirect way to set borders.
In the debate: the future of the EU, on December 5, 2002, Romano Prodi6, President of the European Commission, said: "Share everything except the institutions."
In 2004, the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) was developed in the context of the enlargement of the EU (May 1, 2004 and with the entry of 10 more countries, the European Union of 25 is born) with the aim to collaborate with States that share land or sea borders in order to prevent the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and the neighbors, and, trying to consolidate stability, security, economic development and welfare of all. The level of ambition of the relationship will depend on the extent to which these values are shared. The ENP has nothing to do with enlargement and offers no prospect of membership.
The central element of European neighborhood policy are bilateral action plans, agreed between the EU and each of the partner countries. Javier Solana7 and Chris Patten8 draw a Europe with three groups of neighbors: the Mediterranean (Barcelona Process9), the Western Balkans (Stabilization and Association Process) and the other Eastern neighbors (Association and Cooperation Agreements).
