EuroQuestions | “Europe as dependent, hostage and prey” : what European strategy in the face of disillusionment in our neighbourhoods? with Pierre Mirel

EuroQuestions: Season 2026, Episode 9

*This event will be held in French

Date/Location:
Online, registration required
27 May 2026

Title:

“Europe as dependent, hostage and prey” : what European strategy in the face of disillusionment in our neighbourhoods? with Pierre Mirel

Summary:

Author of “L’Europe dépendante, otage ou proie”, Pierre Mirel offers a lucid and in-depth analysis of the transformations currently reshaping the European Union’s enlargement and neighbourhood policies, in light of the new geopolitical ruptures affecting the world.

EU policies in its neighbourhood—long underprioritised and insufficiently resourced—have been sharply challenged by Europe’s internal fractures as well as the resurgence of external dependencies: Russian aggression, China’s strategic assertiveness, and the reconfigurations driven by the ideology of Trump II. From Kyiv to Yerevan, from Ankara to Belgrade, and from Tunis to Jerusalem, the promises of prosperity based on rapprochement with the EU, or even integration through the diffusion and adoption of European norms, appear to have gradually faded. These dynamics have revealed a Europe perceived alternately as dependent on Washington, vulnerable to Moscow, and economically exposed to Beijing.

In this context, this EuroQuestions session will be an opportunity for Pierre Mirel to revisit the observations he makes across the EU’s various neighbourhoods, to analyse the shortcomings and blind spots of past policies, and above all to explore avenues for fundamentally rethinking European external action. The question of EU enlargement will also be central to the discussion, as both a lever and a challenge in this necessary reinvention.

Key questions:

• What are the main lessons from the past twenty years of EU enlargement and neighbourhood policies? Are these lessons consistent across regions and geographical contexts?
• To what extent does the current reconfiguration of global geopolitics weaken the European Union’s position in its neighbourhoods?
• How does the question of enlargement today interact with the EU’s neighbourhood policy and, more broadly, with its regional influence?

Biography of the speaker:

Pierre Mirel has held various positions within the European Commission related to the accession of Central Europe, Turkey, and the Balkans. He lived in Egypt for three years. He has taught enlargement and neighbourhood policies at Sciences Po Paris alongside Jacques Rupnik. He is a senior adviser at the Greater Europe Centre of the Jacques Delors Institute.

What are EuroQuestions? 

EuroQuestions are bi-monthly events held in the form of 30-minute online exchanges, bringing together a moderator (Ms Christine Verger or Mr William Malaterre) and a guest speaker on European issues. These meetings take place on Wednesdays, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The speaker usually delivers a 15–20 minute presentation, followed by a 10–15 minute exchange with the moderator.