The Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series The Eastern Enlargements of the EU: Why and How Far? The Eastern Enlargements of the EU: Why and How Far? φ (original) (raw)
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2005
This publication is sponsored by the EU Commission. The Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series The Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series is produced by the Jean Monnet Chair of the University of Miami, in cooperation with the Miami European Union Center. These monographic papers analyze ongoing developments within the European Union as well as recent trends which influence the EU's relationship with the rest of the world. Broad themes include, but are not limited to: ♦ EU Enlargement ♦ The Evolution of the Constitutional Process ♦ The EU as a Global Player ♦ Comparative Regionalisms ♦ The TransAtlantic Agenda ♦ EU-Latin American Relations ♦ Economic issues ♦ Governance ♦ The EU and its Citizens ♦ EU Law As the process of European integration evolves further, the Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Papers is intended to provide current analyses on a wide range of issues relevant to the EU. The overall purpose of the monographic papers is to contribute to a better understanding of the u...
Towards the Completion of Europe: Analysis and Perspectives of the New European Union Enlargement
2006
This volume aims to contribute to the analysis of the EU in general and the background and consequences of its 2004 enlargement in particular. This enlargement is by far one of the greatest tests for the European Union and its institutions because the process of Europeanization is taking place in a variety of countries with diverse political cultures and dissimilar perceptions about the meaning and commitment to European integration. Given their differences in political and economic power, incumbent and new members are inevitably altering the functioning and character of the EU, a unique polity in the international system. Derived from this theoretical challenge, the chapters of this book suggest some explanations on six areas related to the 2004 enlargement: analytical approaches, citizens and identities, debates and regional transformations, external impacts, and the potential Turkey's membership. The articles included in this publication are the result of the academic initiative of the Miami
The Past, Present, and Future of EU Enlargement
From the founding days of the European Coal and Steel Community ("ECSC') in 1952, European integration has been designed as an open access model. At least in principle, every European State has the right to join. And in spite of the somewhat mixed reviews the European Union (EU) has been getting from its citizens over the years, it has shown a remarkable and sustained attractiveness to those not yet among its members. The main reason is, undoubtedly, that the EU has been successful in its primary mission, namely to bring peace and prosperity to a continent that was regularly torn apart by violent conflict ever since historic records exist. At first, only Western Europe was able to benefit but right when the impact of European integration on peace and prosperity in the region was beginning to be taken for granted, the challenge of expanding the mission to all of Europe presented itself. As we all know, the EU has meanwhile grown from 6 Western founding members to 28 current members and now encompasses virtually the entire geographic range of Europe. One additional country managed to sneak in through the backdoor without a formal accession procedure. Only two countries, Norway and Switzerland, have ever decided against accession, and only one territory, Greenland, has ever decided to leave the EU. No fewer than eight more countries are right now at various stages of accession preparation, and several more may yet decide to apply. Thus, enlargement is an ongoing story and the map of the EU will still be re-drawn several more times before its final borders can be determined. At the same time, the procedure for accession negotiations is regulated only in very superficial terms, which have remained largely unchanged over time. Yet, the procedure has evolved considerably in practice. As always, when the law on a particular question provides only a basic framework, the discretionary powers of those who apply the law greatly increase. The Council and the Commission have not shied away from making use of those discretionary powers. It is the purpose of the present article to show how individual Member States, or rather individual leaders of those Member States, via the unanimity requirement in the Council, were able to impose their views on enlargement in the early years. Secondly, we will show that this power has shifted noticeably to the Commission as the number of Member States has grown. Nevertheless, strong individual leaders in the Member States can still put their mark on the timetable and conditions of enlargement. There just seem to be fewer of those distinguished leaders today. Thirdly, we try to predict the use of discretionary powers in ongoing and future accession negotiations. To that end, we analyze how accession negotiations were conducted with the Central and Eastern European Countries ("CEECs") which joined in 2004 and 2007, how and why the approach was modified for the negotiations with Croatia, and how and why the strategy is already different again for the next group of countries.
2011
EU enlargement will depend on many factors and challenges that will determine not only the pace of this process but also will carry alongside the settlement of many open problems in various forms, between Western Balkan countries and member states of EU. The purpose of this text is to provide a better approach, as the enlargement process, especially with the Western Balkan countries, not forgetting Turkey, as one of the most powerful and influencing country not only in the Balkan Peninsula, but also in the Middle East and beyond. The question whether the traditional strategies and actions of EU enlargement process are satisfactory for this changed geostrategic environment, needs to be researched in different ways. It will seek to answer in a separate process, reforms and problems that need to be faced by all acceding and candidate countries for integration into this organization. Only if we take the basic and processing milestone of EU enlargement with the countries of Central and E...
The European Union is making substantial effort to become an increasingly important figure in modern international relations. In order for the European Union to fully function, a proper balance needs to be found between deepening and widening of the European integration process. The EU is starting to highly resemble Kissinger’s model of multispeed Europe. Two key questions relevant to the integration process have been key issues since the Paris Treaty. The first question is what level of integration the EU can achieve without a clearly defined balance of sovereignty between the supranational institutions of the EU and the member-states. The second question is how a supranational institution will function in the complex European political climate. Analysis of relevant macroeconomic indicators such as GDP, expenditure, the level of employment and unemployment will prove that EU accession had an overall positive effect on acceding countries. In the contexts of enlargement policies, a special emphasis is placed on the region of the Western Balkans. It is recommended that taking into account the complex political situation in the region, the European Commission provides more accurate guidelines for the countries of the Western Balkans.