EU Social Rights Accession Conditionality and the Western Balkans: the Example of Bosnia and Herzegovina
EU Social Rights Accession Conditionality and the Western Balkans: the Example of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Summary/Abstract: Abstract. The emergence of social and economic rights as an accession criterion, in addition to civil and political rights, is a recent development in the EU’s enlargement policy. This new category of social rights accession conditionality has been mainly applied to the Western Balkans, due to the countries’ historical and political background. But what has been the impact of social rights accession conditionality in the region? Using the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this paper argues that social rights accession conditionality has had a limited effect on the domestic perception of social and economic rights. The legacies of war and of socialism, as well as problems of limited statehood, drastically attenuate its transformative power. The concretization of the EU social acquis through the use of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and the active involvement of local communities could reinforce social rights accession conditionality.

• Details
• Contents