The EPP’s Engagement with its Sister Parties in Serbia and Georgia

The research project focuses on potential and actual role of Europarties in influencing and designing European policies towards the littoral non-EU (associated) states of the Eastern Neighbourhood (Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova). We intend to analyse how the strategies and visions of Europarties are elaborated and framed and what role does the European Parliament play as compared to other European institutions. We will attempt to understand why some Europarties are more active and/or successful in the cooperation process with these states of the Eastern Neighbourhood, how consolidation of Europarties can be conceptualized and how inter-party cooperation is implemented and to what result. Within the scope of the research we intend to discover existing party cooperation patterns, analyse the trends of vertical hierarchies and horizontal partnerships, as well as incentives and motivations of cooperation of Europarties and their sister parties.  There exists increasingly strong scholarly interest towards the trends in development of Europarties. However, currently the focus is more often either on their organizational structure and functionality or on cross-party cooperation across the member states within the European Union. While the key Europarties have shown significant interest towards the Eastern Neighbourhood, developing and further intensifying the cross-party partnerships, less is known to date about the strategic vision and practical approaches of Europarties towards their regional partners.