WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF STABILIZATION AND ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT WITH KOSOVO: RISK OF INCOHERENCE IN THE EU LAW?
WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF STABILIZATION AND ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT WITH KOSOVO: RISK OF INCOHERENCE IN THE EU LAW?

Summary/Abstract: Kosovo unilaterally declared independence without Serbia's agreement and without approval of the UN Security Council. Today, Kosovo has been recognized by 110 UN member countries, including 23 EU Member States. The negotiation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) started in 2013 and the SAA was signed in October 2015, which means that Kosovo is included in the EU accession process. Stabilisation and Association Agreement is the accession instrument that presumes legal cooperation of the EU with the potential candidate state. In that respect, there is a risk of incoherence between EU policies and between EU and MS politics towards Kosovo. Firstly, the Treaty of Lisbon puts a major imperative on the process of straightening the coherence between Unions policies and activities. It is the obligation of the Union to ensure consistency between the different areas of Union's external action and between these and its other policies. Also, the Treaty prescribes stronger obligations for Member States to support the Union's external and security policy actively and unreservedly in a spirit of loyalty and mutual solidarity. Secondly, following the Lisbon Treaty, which conferred legal personality to the European Union, the Stabilization and Association Agreement was concluded in the form of an EU-only agreement, involving the EU on one side and Kosovo on the other side. Moreover - five EU countries have not recognized Kosovo. Conclusively, this is a case of a potential candidate state that is not recognized by five Member States, which causes concern over the future functioning of the EU. This paper will analyze the current regulation that produced this situation and propose changes that could contribute to a better functioning of the EU.

• Details
• Contents