"The research project deals with the European Community’s (EC) relations with Eastern Europe in the period 1970-1985. It explores the attempts of the EC and its member states to shape, implement, and further develop an autonomous and collective Eastern policy (Ostpolitik) as part of a more general effort at asserting a distinct political role for the EC in the international arena. Focusing on the multilateral and pan-European level, and taking into consideration the broader international context, the project will offer a historical analysis of the development of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy in general, and of the determinants of EU’s enlargement towards Eastern Europe and EU policy towards Russia in particular. The project will contribute to improve our knowledge of the Cold War, of the integration process, and of Europe as a continent. It also aims at appealing to scholars of law, European politics, and International Relations, in the conviction that knowledge of the past serves a better understanding of the present and helps scholars and decision-makers respond to current challenges. The ECOSTPOLITIK is a truly interdisciplinary project. First, it will merge different historical sub-disciplines, i.e. Cold War, European integration, economic history. Second, it will discuss interpretations and theories developed by jurists dealing with the matter. Third, it will make use of theories and concepts of political and social sciences as heuristic tools to appreciate more comprehensively both the EU polity and international negotiations. I will base my research on secondary literature, memoirs, archival sources (documents), and contemporary journals, periodicals and media sources. As I conceive of this project as a truly interdisciplinary research, I will also make targeted use of law and political science literature on matters such as the use of economic means in international relations, governance, decision-making, and external relations of the EC."