scholarly journals Geodemographic perspectives in front of the western Balkans on the road to European integration

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-161
Author(s):  
Kamen Petrov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The Road ◽  
General Overview ◽  
Integration Policies ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
Effective Integration

This article outlines the need for a general overview of the geodemographic state of several indicators in order to see the emerging socio-economic processes. The presentation shows that these countries have identical demographic and social problems, with the possible exception of the Albanians. Although the trend is emerging in all probability and they are facing similar trends with other countries. The derivation of the general geodemographic picture is a reason for the region to choose the implementation of European integration policies and programs that are consistent with the regional geodemographic approach of individual countries. In practice, bringing geodemographic problems to the forefront can be a successful milestone in the rapid and effective integration of these countries into the European Union.

Assessing the Europeanization of Bosnia and Herzegovina: A litmus test for the European Union

Human Affairs ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bedrudin Brljavac
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The Road ◽  
Reform Processes ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Litmus Test ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe concept of Europeanization has become very popular in studies of European integration and particularly in analyses on the post-communist countries undergoing extensive transformation on the road to European Union membership. Although the Europeanization process has been quite successful in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the same scenario has not played out in the western Balkans region. With the purpose of analysing the effectiveness and impact of the Europeanization process in the western Balkans, the main subject of the paper is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU-related reform processes. Although Bosnia has been undergoing thorough Europeanizing reforms since the late 1990s, when the country entered the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP), it is still an unstable and dysfunctional country. That makes it the perfect case for assessing the possible shortcomings of the Europeanization process. Thus far, most scholars have concluded that domestic political elites in Bosnia are the only party responsible for Bosnia’s political deadlock. However, this paper analyses the continued Bosnian deadlock from a different perspective, trying to figure out the degree of responsibility the European Union shares in the country’s Europeanization process. Although uncooperative Bosnian political elites are to a great extent responsible for the continued political and social status quo, EU leaders are not faultless either. In fact, so far European leaders have often appeared to be deeply divided, incoherent, and short-sighted in terms of Europeanization policies in Bosnia, thus further deepening the political deadlock in the country. Therefore, we can ask whether Bosnia represents a litmus test which the EU has failed.

9. Maastricht and Amsterdam (the Late 1980s to the Late 1990s)

2020 ◽  
pp. 154-171
Author(s):  
Simon Bulmer ◽  
Owen Parker ◽  
Ian Bache ◽  
Stephen George ◽  
Charlotte Burns
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Monetary Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Major Step ◽  
The Road ◽  
European Citizenship ◽  
History Of ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Commission President ◽  
Treaty Of Amsterdam

This chapter examines two important developments in the history of the European Union (EU): the signing of the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaties. In June 1989, the European Council agreed to European Commission President Jacques Delors’s three-stage plan for monetary union by 1999, despite British opposition. In 1991, intergovernmental conferences (IGCs) were held on both monetary union and political union. The proposals of these IGCs were incorporated into the Treaty on European Union (TEU), agreed at Maastricht in December 1991. The TEU marked a major step on the road to European integration. It committed most of the member states to adopting a single currency and introduced the concept of European citizenship, among others. This chapter considers the events leading up to the signing of the TEU, from the Maastricht negotiations to the issue of enlargement, the 1996 IGC, and the Treaty of Amsterdam.

scholarly journals It’s the EU immigrants stupid! UKIP’s core-issue and populist rhetoric on the road to Brexit

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ceri Hughes
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Newspaper Coverage ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Road ◽  
News Releases ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Core Issue ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Prevalent Form

The 2016 vote to leave the European Union was one of the biggest developments in recent United Kingdom political history. Only one political party was wholly united for Brexit – the United Kingdom Independence Party. This research finds that in the years leading up to Brexit, the United Kingdom Independence Party presented itself as a rigid core-issue complete-populist party. Content analysis shows how pervasive the European Union was in much of the party output and in the contemporaneous newspaper coverage of the party. The party also utilizes complete-populist rhetoric, with ‘othering’ populism as the most prevalent form. The consistent concentration on the European Union collocated with populist messaging, in both news releases and select newspaper coverage, may have helped afford the United Kingdom Independence Party issue-eliteness in the referendum campaign. But this same work may have also ultimately contributed to make them irrelevant by 2017, and possibly moribund by 2018.

scholarly journals The Limits of Agencification in the European Union

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 1223-1255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslava Scholten ◽  
Marloes van Rijsbergen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Road ◽  
European Court ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Eu

Although not explicitly regulated by the EU treaties, EU agencies not only exist but also have increased in number and power. In addition, while EU agencies may exercise very similar functions to those of the Commission, Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) do not list agencies among the possible authors of non-legislative acts. The existing situation raises the questions of the extent to which the ongoing agencification in the EU is legitimate and what its limits are. This article addresses these questions in the light of the old and new Treaties and case law, including the just releasedESMA-shortsellingcase. It shows that while the Lisbon Treaty made a few steps forward on the road of legitimizing EU agencies and delegating important powers to them, the scope of powers that EU agencies can have remains unclear. In this respect, the European Court of Justice's lenient approach in theESMA-shortsellingcase is unfortunate because it neither clarifies the issue nor pushes the Union Legislator and the Member States to address it. Consequently, in the absence of clear limits, further agencification is likely to persist at the risk of increasing the democratic legitimacy deficit and remaining accountability gaps.

scholarly journals EEC and Yugoslav cooperation in the frames of modern international relations in Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-55
Author(s):  
E. G. Entina
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
South East Europe ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Eu

Traditionally the phenomenon of the European integration towards South East Europe is regarded starting from the XXI century. The explanation for such a periodization are resolution of the open conflicts on the territory of the former Yugoslavia and implementation of the complex EU strategy for the region. Starting point of the majority of researches is the year of 2003 when the EU Agenda for the Western Balkans was started in Thessaloniki. The topic of EEC-Yugoslavia relations, SFRY having been first socialist country to institutionalize its trade and economic relations with Brussels, are unfairly ignored in domestic and foreign scientific literature. It is regarded solely as a chronological period of trade agreements. Nevertheless, this issue is of fundamental importance for understanding the current neighborhood of the European Union. The main thesis the author proves is that in the 1960s and 1980s as it is the case nowadays, the main imperative of Brussels' policy towards the Balkans was to prevent Moscow from increasing its influence. This led to the formation of a very specific format of relations with Belgrade and was one of the reasons why the economic crisis in Yugoslavia became extreme and its economy irreformable. In addition, at a later and structurally much more complicated stage of relations between the countries of the former Yugoslavia and the European Union the specificity and main components of relations of the Cold War period did not fundamentally change. As for the policy of so-called containment of the external actors one could see that besides Moscow, we can speak about similar attitude of the EU towards China. It makes it possible to consider the EU policy towards the countries of the former Yugoslavia in the paradigm of neoclassical realism, rather than in the paradigm of traditional liberal European integration approaches which allows us to unite neorealists elements with the specifics of internal processes, including the modernization of institutes, relations between society and state, types of political leadership.

scholarly journals 1918 barrier on the road to the membership of the European Union

2007 ◽  
pp. 11-34
Author(s):  
Miroslav Jovanovic
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eastern Enlargement ◽  
Distant Future ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Government ◽  
On The Road ◽  
Constitutional System ◽  
Eu Eastern Enlargement ◽  
The Eu

The European Union (EU) and Serbia?s accession to this international organization in a relatively distant future are linked, in the eyes of the Serbian public, with numerous expectations, dilemmas, misunderstanding fears, joys and periodical manipulations. The topic is important, broad and complex, so there is a need for the basic and understandable explanations. While in Serbia this topic is one of the most important and high on the government?s agenda. In the EU and its member countries, it attracts almost no attention and is not a priority issue. Simply, the EU is concerned with much more important issues, such as its future constitutional system security, energy, globalization, unemployment, immigration, demographic problem (population ageing), monetary union, preservation of the single market and adjustment to the EU eastern enlargement of 2004 and 2007. After introduction to the advantages and problems relating to Serbia?s potential accession to the EU, the attention is turned to the issues that include geopolitical conditions for accession to the EU, legislation and functioning of the EU, as well as its budget. Effects of integration, the EU?s interest in Serbia and Serbia?s interest in the EU are presented before conclusions.

scholarly journals European Integration, Economy and Corruption in the Western Balkans

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Emi Malaj
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Business Climate ◽  
Private Sector Investment ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Private Investors

The European Union countries and institutions have constantly contributed to the European integration process of the Western Balkan countries. Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and the Republic of North Macedonia are official candidates for EU membership. Chapters and accession negotiations have been opened with Montenegro and Serbia, whereas Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina are potential candidate countries. Poverty, unemployment and corruption are probably the most common problems that Western Balkan citizens face. Corruption, in itself, does not lead to poverty, but it stimulate poverty through indirect channels by affecting economic, social, political and administrative conditions. Both, the enhancement of business climate for private investors, and a higher level of integration with the European Union will decrease unemployment and will boost economic growth. Authorities should follow concrete policies in order to encourage private sector investment, increase regional integration, and create new jobs. The future of the Western Balkans is in the European Union.

Present and Future Relations between the ECJ and the ECtHR

ICL Journal ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosmarie Doblhoff-Dier ◽  
Sandra Kusmierczyk
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
European Union Law ◽  
The Road ◽  
European Court ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractBy acceding to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the EU’s role as supranational player in the complex human rights architecture of Europe will be finally recognized. On 5 April 2013, the negotiators of the accession procedure of the European Union to the ECHR agreed on a package of draft accession instruments. Constituting a mile­stone on the road to accession, the now revised Accession Agreement still leaves vast room for discussion. By critically scrutinizing some of its modalities, this article will evaluate its impact on the human rights jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Eu­ropean Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the relationship between both courts. To this end, it will address the somewhat disproportionate involvement of the European Union in the future jurisdiction of the ECtHR and in the decision making of the Council of Europe in matters linked to the ECHR. Furthermore, it will focus on the compatibility of the Draft Agree­ment with the principle of autonomous interpretation of European Union Law: a highly rel­evant discussion for the ECJ’s future Opinion under Article 218 (11) TFEU on the compatibil­ity of the finalized draft agreement with the Treaties - the next hurdle for accession.

scholarly journals Process of Cooperation - The European Union and Western Balkans

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manja Djuric
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Political Dialogue ◽  
International Support ◽  
Cross Border

Abstract: The most important achievement of cooperation between the European Union and the countries of the Western Balkans is a viable and sustained political dialogue. The institutionalization of the dialogue with the European Union called for better communication between the countries in the region, candidate and potential candidate countries for membership of the disadvantaged in the process of integration. The processes of cooperation facilitated the development of the region through enhanced cross-border regional cooperation and contributed greatly to attracting international support by mediating between those who need help and those who are willing to provide help. Regional initiatives are addition to the European integration process and not a substitute for the inclusion of the Western Balkans into the European Union.

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