Wider Europe policy was developed by the European Union (EU) in 2003 to define relations with neighboring countries and mitigate negative effects of EU enlargement. Since the border of the EU have been redrawn toward the East and South, a host of new neighboring countries stand to gain from the institution's expansion of democratic norms and practices. Some states in the Balkans, for example, are already on track for EU membership in 2007. Others, for example Ukraine and Belarus, have no current prospects. The Challenge of Wider Europe working group thus raises the question of what policies are needed to promote Europeanization in countries without prospects for EU membership and how economic, political and security dimensions of the European Neighborhood Policy can be better integrated to ensure peace and stability in the EU neighborhood.

Fellow projects in 2005: