The European Union and the Paradox of Enlargement : The Complex Accession of the Western Balkans

This book sheds light on the contradictions underlying the European Union enlargement process, specifically to the Western Balkans, challenging the common assumption that the integration of an extended European space might be possible without mutual transformation of the institutions and agencies involved. Sekulić maps the institutional dimension of the accession process, and analyses how the conditionality principle shapes and constrains the space for negotiation within the EU. Combining ethnographic research with the discourse analysis of the European Commission’s reports and documents from 2008 to 2019 concerning the Western Balkan countries, the book also explores the perceptions and agency of the individuals involved in this process. __The European Union and the Paradox of Enlargement__ will be of interest to students and scholars of European integration, the sociology of Europe and the EU, and Eastern European and Western Balkan studies. Preface 6 Acknowledgements 13 Contents 16 List of Figures 18 List of Tables 19 Introduction 20 Research Design 25 The Structure of the Book 28 Bibliography 30 1: Europe from East to West, from South to North: Harmonization in Turbulent Times 32 1989 as the Last European Revolution? 32 Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Coining New Concepts, Building New Realities 35 Transition as Revolution 38 The Fall of the Berlin Wall and Its Anniversaries 40 The Unexpected Collapse 40 The Tenth Anniversary 43 The Twentieth Anniversary 44 European Borders and Barriers: New Fences and Walls 45 Bibliography 49 2: Dimensions and Contradictions of the European Integration: Deepening Versus Widening 53 Political Sociology of the European Integration and Enlargement 53 Widening of the EU Between Enlargement and Accession 56 Normative and Procedural Dimensions of Enlargement 59 Structural Aspects 59 Rules and Barriers 60 Who Will Be the Next? 64 “Berlin Process” 2014–2019 66 Integration Without Enlargement? 69 ‘Membership or Nowhere?’ 69 Bibliography 74 3: New Axes of Integration and the Constitution of the European Polity and Society 79 Is There Any Such Thing as a European Society? 79 Ethnography of the Process from the Accession Perspective 84 Why Western Balkans? 87 European Integration and Enlargement as a Methodological Question 92 Bibliography 95 4: European Integration on the Field: Framing the Western Balkans 100 Analysing Patterns and Practices of Enlargement to the Western Balkans as a Methodological Question: Is There Room for an Ethnography of the Process? 100 Between Enlargement and Accession 105 Narrations About the European Integration Process and Their Analysis 110 Bibliography 115 5: Framing the Field Within the Text: Analysis of the European Commission Reports on the Western Balkan Countries in a Longitudinal Perspective 2008–2019 118 Introduction 118 Reports 122 General Characteristics of the Report 125 Measuring the Achievements in Approaching the EU 133 Croatia 135 Epilogue 158 FYROM/North Macedonia 159 Montenegro 165 Serbia 169 Albania 171 Bosnia and Herzegovina 173 Kosovo∗ (∗Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244/99) 176 Shortcomings and Commitments as Specific Semantic Fields of Reporting 184 Excursus on the Statistics 192 In Conclusion 196 Bibliography 200 Documents and Reports 202 6: Narrating the Process of Enlargement and Accession: European Union Versus Western Balkans 203 FYROM/North Macedonia: Not Just a Question of Name 210 Brussels 210 Skopje 212 Brussels 213 Brussels 215 Skopje 217 Brussels 218 Bosnia and Herzegovina: Rising from the Ashes of a Broken Society 220 Brussels 222 Sarajevo 223 Brussels 224 Brussels 226 Sarajevo 227 Brussels 228 Brussels 229 Sarajevo 231 Sarajevo 232 Interviews as Narratives About Enlargement and Accession 234 Epilogue 244 Bibliography 248 7: Conclusions: The Paradox of the European Integration 251 Bibliography 258 Index 260 Front Matter ....Pages i-xxxiv Europe from East to West, from South to North: Harmonization in Turbulent Times (Tatjana Sekulić)....Pages 1-21 Dimensions and Contradictions of the European Integration: Deepening Versus Widening (Tatjana Sekulić)....Pages 23-48 New Axes of Integration and the Constitution of the European Polity and Society (Tatjana Sekulić)....Pages 49-69 European Integration on the Field: Framing the Western Balkans (Tatjana Sekulić)....Pages 71-88 Framing the Field Within the Text: Analysis of the European Commission Reports on the Western Balkan Countries in a Longitudinal Perspective 2008–2019 (Tatjana Sekulić)....Pages 89-173 Narrating the Process of Enlargement and Accession: European Union Versus Western Balkans (Tatjana Sekulić)....Pages 175-222 Conclusions: The Paradox of the European Integration (Tatjana Sekulić)....Pages 223-231 Back Matter ....Pages 233-240