European Union Conditionality in the Western Balkans: External Incentives and Europeanisation

Abstract

Originally, studies of Europeanisation have almost exclusively focused on the Central and Eastern European (CEE) candidates, which became member states in 2004 and 2007. It remains to be seen, however, to what extent the conditions that have proven relevant for the CEE countries are also applicable to the candidate states from the Western Balkans. Do existing theoretical approaches on the impact of EU conditionality on candidate states explain the compliance record of the countries from the Western Balkans? Alternatively, is it necessary to adapt these theoretical approaches to the specific circumstances of enlargement in the Western Balkans? In this chapter, we address these questions theoretically by analysing the applicability of existing theoretical models of Europeanisation to rule adoption in the Western Balkans. Our theoretical analysis shows the external incentives model is likely to provide a useful starting point for studying the success of the new candidates in meeting the EU membership requirements. However, the relatively low credibility of membership in all Western Balkan countries (with the exception of Croatia) points towards the relevance of additional factors, such as capacity-building and coalition-building, that could explain and promote continuous processes of rule adoption in new candidate states.