From normative to tangible governance: Time to change strategy of the EU enlargement process towards Western Balkans. Bruges Political Research Papers 74/2019

Hasa, Taulant (2019) From normative to tangible governance: Time to change strategy of the EU enlargement process towards Western Balkans. Bruges Political Research Papers 74/2019. [Policy Paper]

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Abstract

Since the launch of the European integration process in the Western Balkans (WB), the political promise of membership has kept the south-east of Europe out of conflict. The pacification of the region is the core strategic goal of the process, while the European Union’s (EU) use of its normative power is struggling to put the region on the path to Europeanization. Although the European governance targets member states, due to the gravitational attraction of its model, the WB has become an indirect recipient of it, producing a certain normative loyalty towards the EU. Nevertheless, in states currently in political transition, endemic corruption in the public administration, weak democracy, and lack of rule of law among other factors, make the implementation of the European model difficult. Therefore, the achievements of the supposed European governance are not very visible, which gives rise to many questions: Is there a membership perspective? Why does European governance have a limited effect on the WB? For many reasons, especially enlargement fatigue and the debate over a federal EU, the goal has been to keep the region tied to EI (European Integration) rather than a full accession.

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