Abstract
In this article we examine three different ways to approach the study of EU Eastern enlargement process: first, from a utility-maximising perspective, second, from the values stemming from EU’s collective identity, and finally, using a deliberative framework. More specifically, we look at whether each of these different rationales can explain the decision to enlarge, the selection of the candidates and the opening of negotiations. In our conclusions, we argue that while an instrumental logic can account for a good deal of EU member states’actions, a logic of justification has a great potential to explain why member states have felt obliged to refer their actions not to material interests but to norms and principles accepted by all.
Highlights
Five rounds of enlargement have been completed
Despite the time that has elapsed, in this article we argue that the analogy is still valid to describe the problems faced by the academic community when attempting to tackle the enlargement processes
As far as the European Union is concerned, the relevant actors are considered to be the member states’ governments, who base their respective positions on the expected consequences of a specific political action, defining their preferences before the decision-making process sets off and, thenceforward, acting in a strategic way in order to maximize their gains
Summary
Five rounds of enlargement have been completed. The original European Economic Community has grown from Six to Twenty-Five members and the process has not yet come to an end. The Three Logics of Political Action Two metatheoretical approaches have typically been used to analyze interstate interactions: rational choice and constructivism These have further been applied to the study of the dynamics of the European Union and its integration process, as well as to the type of polity it is becoming. As far as the European Union is concerned, the relevant actors are considered to be the member states’ governments, who base their respective positions on the expected consequences of a specific political action, defining their preferences before the decision-making process sets off and, thenceforward, acting in a strategic way in order to maximize their gains.
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