Abstract
Conditionality as a basic approach of the EU towards the accession countries represents here a fundamental instrument of integration as Europeanization, seen primarily as a required but also just and legitimate process of harmonization with the laws and standards of the Union and its member states that needs no further justification. Through the analysis of the European Commission’s progress and analytical and country reports from 2008 to 2019, the author questions not only the EU’s institutional ability to impose models of transformation, along with the criteria for their translation and adaptation, but also its capacity to create policies and devices that enable deep and durable structural changes and institutional reforms, substantially empowering local actors and agencies to endorse transformative democratizing politics in their respective societies.
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Notes
- 1.
See the site of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, web page of the Chronology of relations between the Republic of Serbia and the European Union—http://www.mfa.gov.rs/en/foreign-policy/eu.
- 2.
Increasing trend of negative attitude towards the future enlargement was reported in the Chap. 2.
- 3.
Link to the EC Enlargement website: https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/countries/check-current-status_en.
- 4.
In fact, the EC considers 2002 as the year in which the annual reporting to the Council and Parliament started, while the (Progress) Report format was adopted only in 2005.
- 5.
See Chap. 2.
- 6.
While writing these sentences the new President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has just been elected.
- 7.
For example, the Analytical Report of the Commission for Serbia in 2011 nominates the following institutions as sources: “Serbian authorities, the EU Delegation in Serbia, reports of expert missions, reporting by the Member States’ Embassies in Belgrade, European Parliament reports, assessments by international organisations (including the Council of Europe, OECD, OSCE, IMF, World Bank), as well as local and international non-governmental organisations.”
- 8.
BiH is the only fully recognized former Yugoslav country that lags behind in the process of accession, together with Kosovo, yet not recognized by all UN and EU member states.
- 9.
The Commission recommended to the Council the opening of the accession negotiations with the FYROM in October 2009.
- 10.
France, Denmark and the Netherlands were the three EU member states that opposed the beginning of the membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania at the Luxembourg Summit of the European Council. The then President of the EC, Jean-Claude Juncker, defined the decision as a “grave historical error”.
- 11.
Agreement signed in November 1995 between Croatia and Serbia for peaceful transition and reintegration of the region of the Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium within Croatia. For more information see https://peacemaker.un.org/croatia-erdutagreement95.
- 12.
In that period the trial began against generals and commanders of the Croatian Army Ante Gotovina, Ivan Čermak and Mladen Markač. They were indicted for crimes against humanity and violation of laws of customs of war. The case triggered for years nationalist incidents and disputes, and was one of the main reasons of partial delay in accession process. For more information see http://www.icty.org/case/gotovina/4 and http://www.icty.org/case/cermak/4.
- 13.
The case of Kosovo is an exception in this sense, as its fight for independence has roots in the 1980s’ movement guided by Ibrahim Rugova, for the republican status within the SFR Yugoslavia.
- 14.
Positive assertion labels such as ‘good progress’ were attributed in just nineteen cases, while ‘no progress’ (30), ‘some progress’ (85), ‘limited’ (72), or ‘insufficient’ (27) labels appeared in the text much more frequently. A similar trend continued within the Report 2012 with more generous use of a ‘good progress’ label (27) and less ‘limited’ (37) and ‘insufficient’ (11) labels (EC PRs on MNE 2011 and 2012).
- 15.
See Chap. 6.
- 16.
Council Conclusions of March, October and December 2011 and of June 2012 (PR 2012: 5).
- 17.
The military base of the US Army, Camp “Bondsteel”, was established in Kosovo immediately after the NATO intervention against the Yugoslav Federation Army controlled by Slobodan Milošević in 1999. It is defined as “the main base of the United States Army under KFOR command in Kosovo”. It hosts the Multinational Battle Group-East (MNBG-E)—a NATO command that should conduct “peace support operations in Kosovo to contribute to a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement” (https://jfcnaples.nato.int/kfor/page185715346.aspx). Two hills at the location of Ferizaj/Uroševac were flattened to build a 3.86 km2 camp space, with 11 towers, a 52-helipad airfield, 2.5-metre-high wall, 84 kilometres of wire, and 7000 soldiers and staff at the beginning. It was defined by independent sources as the largest and the most expensive foreign military base built by the United States in Europe after the Vietnam War.
- 18.
In five years of reporting on Croatia the word ‘progress’ was mentioned within the texts 1076 times; in eleven years of reporting on other WB countries, the word appeared 1890 times within the Reports on FYROM/North Macedonia; 1358 times in the case of Montenegro; 1354 in the case of Serbia; 1620 times in the case of Albania; 1316 times in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina; and 1133 times in the case of Kosovo.
- 19.
In fact, the frequency also decreased significantly in the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 for a reason impossible to discover. It might be hypothesized that different political input of the EC higher ranks on how to construct the specific language of the reports was given to the rapporteurs, but we have no evidence demonstrating this. In any case, the specific message of the reports did not change in those years.
- 20.
The word ‘however’ was constantly used in the texts from 2008 on, with the peak in the last Analytical report on Bosnia and Herzegovina, published in 2019: 249 times. In the case of Croatia it appeared 494 times in five years; in eleven-year reporting on other WB countries it appeared 1016 times within the reports on Macedonia; 991 times in the case of Montenegro; 1062 times in the case of Serbia; 1111 times in the case of Albania; 809 times in the case of B&H; 662 times in the case of Kosovo.
- 21.
The Comprehensive Monitoring Report was produced only in the case of Croatia in 2012, as an instrument that preceded the final act of accession. The frequency of occurrence of the word ‘commitment’ increased significantly in this case (54 times), and the quality changed, as the mutual commitment of the two parts at that point of the process became crucial.
- 22.
Considering the economy indicators, four indicators were analysed: GDP (euro per capita), GDP (in PPS per capita, EU-25/27/28=100), growth rate of GDP (national currency, at constant prices, % change on previous year) and consumer price index (CPI) (total, % change on previous year) [Inflation index]. The last three indicators are considered as structural. For financial indicators we selected only gross foreign debt of the whole economy, relative to GDP (%).
- 23.
Labour-market selected indicators were: economic activity rate (15/20–64): share of population aged 15/20–64 that is economically active (%); employment rate (15/20–64): share of population aged 15/20–64 in employment (%); share of male and female population aged 15/20–64 in employment (%); youth unemployment rate: proportion of the labour force aged 15–24 that is unemployed (%). Only the second, with gender distribution, is considered as a structural indicator.
- 24.
Referring to the demographic indicators, all five items were taken into consideration: natural growth rate (natural change—births minus deaths—per 1000 inhabitants), net migration rate (immigrants minus emigrants per 1000 inhabitants, infant mortality rate (deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births) and life expectancy at birth in years, with gender difference between male and female.
- 25.
Index of real wages and salaries (index of nominal wages and salaries divided by the inflation index); GINI coefficient; poverty gap; early leavers from education and training: proportion of the population aged 18–24 with at most lower secondary education who are not in further education or training (%), the last is considered a structural indicator.
- 26.
National Agency of Statistics, Croatia.
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Sekulić, T. (2020). Framing the Field Within the Text: Analysis of the European Commission Reports on the Western Balkan Countries in a Longitudinal Perspective 2008–2019. In: The European Union and the Paradox of Enlargement. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42295-0_5
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