The Key Factors and the Potential of the Structural Transformation of the European Union at Present

This study investigates key external and internal factors which affect the current structural transformation of the European Union. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that the EU is one of the most important actors in international relations, therefore, any changes within the union affect the entire system of international relations as a whole. Thus, searching for factors that transform the structure of the EU, as well as determining the potential of EU’s development are key tasks for the science of international relations. For Russia, the main issue is how the Russian-European relations will change after the transformation of the union, that was also covered in this study. The research aims to formulate the factors of the structural transformation of the European Union and its potential. The author employs general research methods, neoclassical realism as an international relations theory and intergovernmentalism as an integration paradigm. The main conclusion of the research is that the European Union will remain strong from an economic point of view but will lose its political influence both inside the union and in the world. In other words, according to the results of the study, the influence of all the factors listed in the investigation is significant which allows to talk about the potential transformation of the EU in the future. The tendency to strengthening of the nation states together with the preservation of the economic interdependence seems to the author the optimal future for the European Union.