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Europe-Gulf Relations: from past hurdles to present challenges APPLICATIONS OPEN NOW!
The Treaty on European Union (Article 49) sets out that only European countries that respect EU values and are committed to promoting them may apply to join the EU. The application process can only be launched at the express wish of these countries, and with the agreement of all existing EU Member States.
On 1 July 2013, Croatia became the 28th (now 27th) Member State of the European Union, through the seventh wave of enlargement. Since then, no other country has joined the EU. However, the Commission’ s 2023 ‘Enlargement Package’, published on 8 November, constitutes the most relevant piece of legislation issued in many years in terms of actualizing a new enlargement wave. At the top political level, the Package proposes the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia-Herzegovina, alongside candidate status for Georgia, and reveals elements of a geopolitical nature, supported, at its very basis, by EU values.
In addition to the accession process, EU enlargement actively concerns some Member States, as proven by the most recent border integration of Bulgaria and Romania, which have entered the Schengen Treaty at the very beginning of 2025.
Undoubtedly, the EU has evolved during the decades to welcome a growing number of new Member States; nonetheless, the EU institutional setting and decision-making mechanisms will probably need to further adapt to include, in a near future, the current Candidate Countries, as its infrastructure was not originally crafted to accommodate such a large number of Member States.
Major challenges concerning the EU parliamentary representativity, the role of the Commission, voting and decision-making processes, the budgetary allocation and its potential reform, the rising inputs given to the defence industry, the role of the ECJ and the European economic policy coupled with the goals set by the European Green Deal will have to face the increasingly diversified and opposite national interests. In addition, at an international level, the rise of far-right parties and the electoral irregularities linked to Russian interference in some Member and Candidate Countries might pose a further challenge to the protection of the Rule of Law within European borders.
Therefore, through the 2025 Edition of the EPR we wish to shed light on the potential opportunities and challenges brought by the European enlargement process, analyzing its push and pull factors, establishing a platform to stimulate a debate led by the contributions of our young researchers.
Submission Criteria
The European Policy Review is a review published yearly and available at the British National Library.
Only papers that follow the EST guidelines will be considered. The guidelines go as follows:
- Submissions are welcomed only in the English language. Please use British English spelling throughout;
- Papers must be submitted as a Google Doc through the following form and not later than the deadline below-indicated;
- All papers must use the APA 7 reference style and author-date in in-text citations;
- Both research papers and policy briefs are accepted and need to follow academic standards:
- Research papers should present the following structure: Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Analysis, Conclusion;
- Policy briefs should present the following structure: Executive summary, Introduction, Problem Description & Background, Policy Options & Recommendations, Conclusion.
- All contributions must include an abstract/executive summary of 150–200 words;
- All articles should be between 3,500 and 5,000 words in length (excluding in-text references, bibliography, and the abstract).
Authors’ eligibility criteria
All contributions coming from students, graduates, and young professionals are welcomed with a solid background in European/foreign politics, International Relations, Geopolitics, Economics, International Law, etc…
European citizenship and/or residency is NOT REQUIRED. We welcome applications from around the world.
Deadline
The deadline is set on 14th May 2025, at 11.59 PM (CET). In any extension of such might occur, the EST will promptly communicate the change.
Submission link