PERSPECTIVE A Shared European Home The European Union, Russia and the Eastern Partnership ELENA ALEKSEENKOVA, HENRIK HALLGREN, HISKI HAUKKALA, FELIX HETT, ANNA MARIA KELLNER, IGOR LYUBASHENKO, FLORENCE MARDIROSSIAN, TATIANA ROMANOVA, TORNIKE SHARASHENIDZE, MARYNA VOROTNYUK, JULIA WANNINGER May 2016 „ „ The conflict in and around Ukraine has shaken the principles of cooperation in post– Cold War Europe. It has also called into question the premises of the EU’s relations to the East. The EU thus needs to revise its policy towards Russia and the Eastern Partnership(EaP). This paper proposes the vision of a Shared European Home as a guiding principle for the EU’s Eastern Policy. It sets out concrete policy recommenda­tions for putting this vision into practice. „ „ The vision of a Shared European Home has one core principle: Disagreement over major policy issues should not prevent interest-based, pragmatic cooperation in other fields. In concrete terms: The Ukraine conflict and the deep crisis in EU-Russia relations should not prevent the EU from seeking opportunities for cooperation with Russia. These can be found in the economic sphere, in technical and scientific coop­eration, in civil society exchange, and in global politics. „ „ At the same time, the EU should prepare for even more negative developments in the future – and should think systematically about how to render these less likely. One important step in this regard is to safeguard, and possibly enhance, economic inter­dependence between the EU, the Eastern Partnership countries, and Russia. Trade and mutual investments do not form a»magic wand« that guarantee friendly rela­tions or economic and social transformation. However, they do improve the chances for economic and social stability, and can serve as an»insurance policy« that can prevent relations going from bad to worse.