Europeanisation in Southeastern Europe

2022 ◽  
pp. 67-90
Author(s):  
Theofanis Kakarnias
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Sociological Approaches

Despite relatively recent enlargement rounds, the European Union (EU) is bound to enlarge even further. Yet, for a country to be admissible into the club, it must have successfully Europeanised in multiple areas. Against that background, this chapter aims to assess why apparently similar candidate countries in the Balkans manage the Europeanisation process with widely divergent degrees of success. To answer that question, a diverse and well-established literature review is accounted for, while applying rationalist and sociological approaches to new unexplored cases and examining specific domestic pre-conditions and factors regarding their potential to induce Europeanisation. By assessing past enlargement rounds, notably the Central and Eastern European enlargement and the ongoing Western Balkans enlargement, the objective is to provide for a thorough account of the effectiveness of Europeanisation in the Balkans, especially as regards EU conditionality in the area of the rule of law.

The icty’s Conditionality Dilemma

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kei Hannah Brodersen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Norm Diffusion ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Crucial Condition

The European Union has made cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia a crucial condition to furthering relations with Serbia. This approach, known as “icty conditionality”, stems from the conviction that the Tribunal is a key factor in rebuilding the rule of law in the Western Balkans. In contrast to the existing literature on eu conditionality in general or on icty conditionality in specific, this article emphasizes the relevance of all involved actors: it examines the interaction of icty conditionality, domestic factors and the icty’s judicial performance influencing the development of the rule of law in Serbia. The article concludes that the goal of using the icty as a tool to establish the rule of law in Serbia has failed due to a lack of norm diffusion, although all icty conditionality requirements have eventually formally been fulfilled. This was not only due to inconsistent application of icty conditionality on the eu’s side, but also on account of deficiencies in the legal operation of the Tribunal. Lastly, neither the eu’s demands nor the icty’s work fell on fruitful domestic grounds.

scholarly journals Challenges and Perspectives of the EU Accession Policy — a Reflection on Criminal Law

Lex Russica ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 143-147
Author(s):  
M. Zekić
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The Eu

Should we join the European Union or not? The European Union is not some imaginative goal to be pursued. It requires and offers concrete solutions. At the same time, it seeks out and establishes values and obligations to be fulfilled and inserted in a concrete political life. These obligations and values are universal and it is up to each state to assess whether the acceptance and realization of those interests and values is in its own interest. It should be borne in mind that the legal state and the rule of law, respect for human rights and freedoms, a market economy with developed social policy, fight against corruption and terrorism and many other values that the European Union stands for are essential to every democratic society and exactly these values are a goal that every human being strives for. Eurasian integration is also in favor of these values, but instead of ultimatum and conditioning, they offer a more flexible negotiation method.It is indisputable, at the moment, that in the region of the Western Balkans, the Republic of Serbia is at the back line of the European integration process. It has entered these processes as the last interested state, but in addition it constantly faces major internal problems and insufficient understanding, as well as new conditions that are constantly being set for its accession. If we add the fact that the decrease of the interest of citizens to join the European Union is currently being noticed, it is clear why the question of who to approach is becoming actualized. One of the goals of the reforms undertaken in the accession process is the harmonization of internal regulations with Communitarian Law. In doing so, it should be borne in mind that total harmonization is almost impossible.

scholarly journals CORRUPTION, CAPITAL ABUNDANCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: EVIDENCE FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlatka Bilas ◽  
Mile Bošnjak ◽  
Sanja Franc
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
European Union Countries ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of this paper is to establish and clarify the relationship between corruption level and development among European Union countries. Out of the estimated model in this paper one can conclude that the level of corruption can explain capital abundance differences among European Union countries. Also, explanatory power of corruption is higher in explaining economic development than in explaining capital abundance, meaning stronger relationship between corruption level and economic development than between corruption level and capital abundance. There is no doubt that reducing corruption would be beneficial for all countries. Since corruption is a wrongdoing, the rule of law enforcement is of utmost importance. However, root causes of corruption, namely the institutional and social environment: recruiting civil servants on a merit basis, salaries in public sector competitive to the ones in private sector, the role of international institutions in the fight against corruption, and some other corruption characteristics are very important to analyze in order to find effective ways to fight corruption. Further research should go into this direction.

scholarly journals The Rule of Law Framework in the European Union: Its Rationale, Origins, Role and International Ramifications

2021 ◽  
pp. 305-331
Author(s):  
Artur Nowak-Far
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
International Legal Order ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Eu

AbstractAt present, the European rule of law enforcement framework under Article 7 TEU (RLF) is vulnerable to unguaranteed, discretionary influences of the Member States. This vulnerability arises from its procedural format which requires high thresholds in decision-making with the effect that this procedure is prone to be terminated by the EU Member States likely to be scrutinized under it, if only they collude. Yet, the Framework may prove effective to correct serious breaches against human rights (in the context of ineffective rule of law standards). The European Commission is bound to pursue the RLF effectiveness for the sake of achieving relative uniformity of application of EU law (at large), and making the European Union a credible actor and co-creator of international legal order. The RLF is an important tool for the maintenance of relative stability of human rights and the rule of law in the EU despite natural divergence propensity resulting from the procedural autonomy of the EU Member States. By achieving this stability, the EU achieves significant political weight in international dialogue concerning human rights and the rule of law and preserves a high level of its global credibility in this context. Thus, RLF increases the EU’s effectiveness in promoting the European model of their identification and enforcement.

scholarly journals The Responsibility of Courts in Maintaining the Rule of Law: Two Tales of Consequential Judicial Self-Restraint

2021 ◽  
pp. 155-181
Author(s):  
Pál Sonnevend
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Constitutional Courts ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Legislative Power ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Law

AbstractModern constitutionalism is based on the paradigm that courts are inherently entitled and obliged to enforce the constitution of the respective polity. This responsibility of courts also applies in the context of the European Union to both the CJEU and national constitutional courts. The present chapter argues that in the face of constitutional crises the CJEU and the Hungarian Constitutional Court shy away from applying the law as it is to the full. The reasons behind this unwarranted judicial self-restraint are most different: the CJEU aims to avoid conflicts with national constitutional courts whereas the Hungarian Constitutional Court has been facing a legislative power also acting as constitution making power willing to amend the constitution to achieve specific legislative purposes or to undo previous constitutional court decisions. Yet both courts respond to expediencies that do not follow from the law they are called upon to apply. It is argued that rule of law backsliding requires these courts to abandon the unnecessary self-restraint and exploit the means already available.

From a Protectorate to a Member State of the European Union

2022 ◽  
pp. 278-296
Author(s):  
Liliana Reis
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Member State ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Independent State ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Academic Debate

The European Union was present in Kosovo even before the declaration of its independence. However, it was after 2008 and at the request of the Kosovar authorities to EU that Kosovo inaugurated a period of close ties with the organization, through the rule of law mission it launched for the country and through various programs of the European Commission, including the European Partnership Action Plan (EPAP) for Kosovo, Mechanism of the Stabilization and Association Process, and the Instrument of Pre-Accession (IPA). This chapter seeks to examine the evolution of European presence on Kosovo by analysing EULEX mission and other European instruments and the achievements by newly former states in achieving the Copenhagen criteria, contributing to the academic debate on the role of European Union aid in the new Western Balkans states for their emancipation and possible access to the organization. It also evaluates the mutualisation of responsibilities and maintenance of the European status quo in Kosovo, fostering a protectorate in an independent state.

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