The Europeanisation of the Romanian Minority Rights Policy. Misfit, Change and Controversies
The Europeanisation of the Romanian Minority Rights Policy. Misfit, Change and Controversies

Summary/Abstract: The author purposes an analysis of the degree of Europeanisation of the Ro­manian minority rights policy, within the context of EU conditionality for acces­sion. She begins with a detailed plea for a historical neoinstitutionalist framework, enriched with elements of rational choice and sociological institutionalism, simultaneously drawing upon the Europeanisation concepts of outcomes and mechanisms of change. Accordingly, she investigates the evolution of the govern­ mental behaviour, discourse and strategies addressing the Hungarian minority in Romania, identifying three major periods, which coincide with the electoral cycle, respectively describing them as a first phase of inertia and retrenchment, a second phase of absorption, and a third phase of transformation. A similar analysis maps the EU, from gate-keeping during the Balladur Plan, monitor­ing, vague legislative and institutional templates in the Commission's annu­al reports, while the EU' s financial contribution for consolidating minority rights in Romania constitutes another mechanism towards Europeanisation via aid and technical assistance.

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