The Europeanization of the Western Balkans. How far has the EU come, where did it fail and where should it go next?
The Europeanization of the Western Balkans. How far has the EU come, where did it fail and where should it go next?

Author(s): Georgiana Ciceo
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment
Published by: Университет за национално и световно стопанство (УНСС)
Keywords: Europeanization; Western Balkans; Accession; Good Governance; Democratization
Summary/Abstract: According to Radaelli, Europeanization refers to ‘processes of (a) construction (b) diffusion and (c) institutionalization of formal and informal rules, procedures, policy paradigms, styles, ‘ways of doing things’ and shared beliefs and norms which are first defined and consolidated in the making of EU decisions and then incorporated in the logic of domestic discourse, identities, political structures and public policies.’ European Union has always exerted a powerful attraction for the candidate countries and by means of conditionality managed to shape the aspirations of these countries. In the case of the Central and Eastern European countries the enlargement perspective elicited a multifaceted and intense set of adjustment processes with the aim of socializing applicant countries into the values and standards of the EU thus enabling them to achieve ’democracy by convergence’. The Balkan region has always been part of Europe, nevertheless the situation in the region remains complex and in many respects problematic. Europeanization in the Balkans would mean structural transformation, modernization and adjustment to the advanced European models in areas such as good governance, economy and the rule of law. The thoroughness of these processes becomes all the more important especially if we take into consideration the increased politicization of the enlargement process. The present contribution attempts to assess the EU ability to shape the transformation of Western Balkan states.

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