Thirty Years Since Copenhagen – EU Enlargement Policy 3.0
The Enlargement Policy of the European Union was created at the beginning of the 90s of the 20th Century as a response to the demands of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe for accession to the Union. Given the several previous waves of Enlargement, the Union’s aim was primarily to instituti...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade, Serbia, and Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Političke Perspektive |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/481629 |
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| Summary: | The Enlargement Policy of the European Union was created at the beginning of the 90s of the 20th Century as a response to the demands of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe for accession to the Union. Given the several previous waves of Enlargement, the Union’s aim was primarily to institutionalize previous experiences and thus create a set of standardized rules for the accession process. Over the years, the Enlargement Policy has undergone several changes and reforms determined by previous enlargement experiences, institutional and political challenges in the functioning of the Union itself, but also political developments in the regions where the Enlargement Policy operates. Consequently, it found itself in a state of hyper-institutionalization and as such represents a “moving target” for countries in the process of accession. Practice has shown that the stated dynamics of institutionalization did not improve the performance of the Enlargement Policy. On the contrary, there were no new enlargements, and the Union, affected by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, changed the objectives of the Enlargement. It is now aimed at new states that until that moment had not built institutional ties with the prospect of membership, and in the Western Balkans region, new priorities were set in the negotiations. We can characterize these changes as essential, and accordingly emphasize that thirty years after the Copenhagen Criteria were promoted, the Union and the member states prioritized the political dimension of Enlargement. The paper analyzes the main directions of development of the Enlargement Policy with special reference to the shift of focus from the Rule of Law to alignment with the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the Union, as well as the change in institutional ties with the countries of the Eastern Partnership with the basic thesis that after the prioritization of the rule of law, this is the second essential change in the Enlargement Policy. |
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| ISSN: | 2217-561X 2335-027X |