This article examines conceptual change in the definition of EU policies of CBC in the context of the shaping of common foreign policies of the Union. The analysis focuses on changes in the definitions of CBC from the first INTERREG programs to present-day European Neighborhood Policies. The aim is to understand the conceptual shifts against the background of changing political agendas ranging from economic and social cohesion to pre-integration, deepening integration and the constitution of the political Union. The paper aims to contributing to the discussion on the formation of EU policies of common foreign affairs by asking what kind of discursive legacies and maybe even institutional path dependencies earlier programs of CBC have left to present-day policies of external relations. The ultimate question is: what kind of effects have CBC policy frames and instruments had on the role of the EU as a foreign political actor, and on the normative or soft power approach the EU is said to represent?