The European Union And The Paradox Of Enlargement

This book sheds light on the contradictions underlying the European Union enlargement process, specifically to the Western Balkans, challenging the common assumption that the integration of an extended European space might be possible without mutual transformation of the institutions and agencies involved. Sekulić maps the institutional dimension of the accession process, and analyses how the conditionality principle shapes and constrains the space for negotiation within the EU. Combining ethnographic research with the discourse analysis of the European Commission’s reports and documents from 2008 to 2019 concerning the Western Balkan countries, the book also explores the perceptions and agency of the individuals involved in this process. The European Union and the Paradox of Enlargement will be of interest to students and scholars of European integration, the sociology of Europe and the EU, and Eastern European and Western Balkan studies.

The development of EU enlargement has raised many thorny issues unanticipated by the framers of the EC Treaty. A significant upshot of these issues is that the concept of European identity - defined in terms of such factors as culture, history and economics - has supplanted the long-dominant theme of 'widening and deepening, ' particularly since the Union's expansion has become primarily eastward. The major contribution of this important book lies in its analysis of the conceptualization and perception of enlargement from various points of view, focusing on the concerns of stakeholders and the 'identity' conflicts and uncertainties incurred by enlargement initiatives. In the course of its presentation, it details the actual pre-accession Europeanization process and its complex history. Among the key elements discussed are the following: the conflict between 'widening' and 'deepening' and the effect on EU institutional reform; institutional requirements on candidate countries; pre-accession criteria and negotiations; administrative capacity, judicial capacity, and legal approximation in accession states; capacity of the EU to absorb new Member States; and EC law as part of European identity. Also covered are specific historical details of particular pre-accession negotiations (e.g., Greece, Spain, Portugal, Malta, and Cyprus), the still inconclusive negotiations with Turkey and the Western Balkan states, and political factors involved in the non-accession of Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. Assembling powerful evidence and applying incisive analysis, the author's conclusion shows that, absent further (and major) EU institutional reform, it will be difficult for an enlarging Union to continue to 'deliver the goods.' A watershed in the continuing great debate on the fulfilment of the EC Treaty's determination to foster and promote 'an ever closer union of the peoples of Europe, ' this book will prove invaluable to anybody interested in the European integration project, particularly lawyers, academics, officials and policymakers in the EU Member States.

This accessible book examines the ways in which the European community will have to adapt to cope with a potential influx of new members into the next millenium. It will be essential reading for students and practitioners of European politics.

Will joining the European Union help achieve prosperity, stability and democracy in Central and Eastern Europe? This book addresses this question by analysing how the European Union has approached this enlargement. Specifically, the book shows how, in its enlargement to the East, the European Union has tried to guide the post- communist states of Central and Eastern Europe towards new institutions and changing rules. In addressing the little explored link between post-communist transformations and enlargement, the book presents the effects of enlargement governance extended by the EU on domestic processes of reform and transformation. With its rich empirical overview of the reform challenges to various sectors, the author presents various scenarios of the interaction of EU rules with post communist reform. In contrast to other books on enlargement, this one relies on the perspective of scholars from Eastern Europe to illustrate the importance of the accession process to reform.

Enlargement will change the nature of the European Union, but how will it affect international affairs? The EU and its member states command significant economic resources and have launched a Common Foreign and Security Policy. Yet the demands of taking on ten new countries, concluding a constitutional treaty to accommodate decisionmaking, and dissipating acrimony after the war in Iraq, all complicate efforts to develop and enhance the EU's international presence. This book considers the impact of enlargement with respect to the EU's perception of its international role in specific geographical regions. The contributors discuss a range of global issues, including the environment, food policies, development, terrorism, and the use of force. Contributors include Stefan Fröhlich (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg), Hanna Ojanen and Kristi Raik (Finnish Institute of International Affairs), Ulrike Guerot (German Marshall Fund Berlin Office), Stanislaw Tekieli (Center for Eastern Studies, Warsaw), Michael Leigh (European Commission Directorate General for External Affairs), Henri Barkey (Lehigh University), Anne-Marie LeGloannec (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales, Foundation Nationale des Sciences Politiques), Stanislav Tkachenko (St. Petersburg University), Nicolae Idu (European Institute of Romania), Ulrich Weisser, Esther Brimmer, Chantal de Jonge Oudraat, and David Michel, (Center for Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins -SAIS), Daniel Gros (CEPS), Angel Ubide (Tudor Investments), Patrick Cronin (CSIS), and Antonio Missoroli (EU Institute for Security Studies).

European Union Enlargement offers an intense and detailed analysis of the almost ten-year process of preparing and negotiating the accession of Eastern, Southeastern, and Central European countries, as well as Mediterranean countries to the European Union. In the end, ten joined in 2004, with two more to follow in 2007. European Union Enlargement was written by two diplomats who were directly involved in that process. Sajdik and Schwarzinger relate their first-hand experience of proceedings that occurred behind closed doors. They detail how the vision of adding some countries gradually developed into the concrete policy intended to enlarge the European Union. A special chapter explains the Accession Process as well as the Union's strategy that prepared the candidate countries, in legal and economic terms, for membership. The authors describe in detail the complex negotiations that occurred from 1998 to 2002. These include activities of EU member states as well as the European Commission with respect to the candidate countries. They further offer a brief analysis of future possibilities of EU-accession by Balkan nations and Turkey. A number of topical chapters deal with particular key issues involved in the process: free movement of workers, agriculture, financing of the enlargement, transport, and nuclear safety. Other chapters deal with the enclave of Kaliningrad as well as the Stability and Association Pact for South East Europe. In addition to providing key information about the process, this volume is also a case study of European policies and diplomatic practice. The enlargement negotiations from 1998 to 2002 were the most complex ones the European Union had ever conducted. In consequence, this work gives insight into the working methods of both the institutions in Brussels and of the representatives of the member states that made them a success. It will be of interest to those concerned with European politics, international organizations, and area studies.

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 1,7, University of Applied Sciences Aschaffenburg, language: English, abstract: Since its foundation the European Union has expanded several times. At the beginning only 6 member states were part of the EU. In more than 50 years a lot more European states joined the European Union. Each expansion changed the European Union regarding cultural, economical and geographical aspects. Enlargement has always been an important topic for the EU and will also be important in the near future. Enlargement has a high impact on the European Union. This causes both positive and negative effects for the organization. The following seminar paper focuses on challenges and negative effects caused by the EU enlargement. Based on the potential challenges, it will focus on the question, whether further EU enlargement will cause a crisis in the European Union. The seminar paper is structured in four chapters. The first chapters give a short overview about the history of the EU Enlargement and explain the process of enlargement in detail. Following this, selected economic challenges and effects on the running of the EU caused by enlargement will be presented and discussed against the backdrop of the question, whether further EU enlargement can cause a crisis in the EU. The seminar paper will only focus on selected economic challenges and challenges for the institutions of the EU because of the limited number of pages.

This book fills a significant gap in recent literature on European Union politics by examining the EU’s ‘other’ eastern enlargement, completed in 2007 with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania. It focuses on both the process and the effects of the 2007 enlargement within the wider context of the post-communist countries’ accession to the EU, and, more broadly, within the context of the history of EU enlargement. The book brings together in-depth analyses of a wide range of issues, both from a comparative perspective and through single case studies. Individual contributions shed new light onto EU enlargement through a theoretical re-evaluation of the ‘strategic action’ paradigm, as well as through historical analyses of the 2007 enlargement and of its implications for future EU enlargements. Further insight into the process of EU enlargement is gained through systematic exploration of the impact of accession on policy-making and institutional structures in Bulgaria and Romania. Altogether, the contributions exemplify the multi-faceted nature of EU enlargement and accession, as well as the extent to which the process of acceding to the EU is not completed with membership, either for the EU or for the candidate countries. This book was published as a special issue of Perspectives on European Politics and Society.