Facing a fragmented neighbourhood: The EU and six eastern partnership countries

After the so-called eastern crisis engulfed the EU Neighbourhood, attention was drawn in particular to the mismatch between eastern neighbours' needs and vulnerabilities and the EU assistance, to the changing geopolitical context in the region as well as to the limits of the EU transformative power. This chapter focuses on six countries-Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan-that fall under the EU-Eastern Partnership framework. It takes stock of the 'pre-crisis' evolution of the European Neighbourhood Policy in the east by crossing two dimensions: the outside-in policies promoted by the EU vis-à-vis its eastern neighbours and the inside-in practices of adaptation, contestation, or subversion of EU programmes by local actors. This exploration helps illuminate broader questions about the limits and enabling conditions for the EU's transformative power in its neighbourhood.