Globalisation creates favourable conditions for the formation of transborder regions through enhancing communication. This process involves industrial, transport, trade and other enterprises as well as education, culture and research institutions, which develop multiple links. The formation of cross-border regions is facilitated by the regional policy of the European Union, which encourages the development of connections between the transborder regions of different countries including non-EU members, for instance, Russia. A positive example is the Baltic macroregion, which serve as a ground for the formation of numerous cross-border meso- and microregions.

This article examines the evolution and current state of the Northern Dimension policy and its role in Russia-EU relations. The authors analyse the discrepancy between the actual achievements of the Northern Dimension and its potential and the over-high expectations, which accompanied the policy renewal.