Session
Law
Description
"The future of the Balkans lies within the European Union" - this is the central sentence of the European Council conclusions adopted at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003. Today, almost two decades later, the Western Balkans are even further away from that goal. After mass membership in 2004, then Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, and finally Croatia in 2013, the EU obviously looks tired. Montenegro has entered the twelve years tenth year of negotiations, and the results are still halfway through. Serbia is experiencing the same fate. And other Western Balkan countries have been on "waiting tracks" for decades.
Fulfillment of basic conditions for membership such as - stable democratic institutions, rule of law, respect for human and minority rights, functioning market economy, competitive capacities, etc. - seems to be stagnant. In much of the Western Balkans economies have remained underdeveloped, dependent on aid, loans and remittances, and prone to high levels of state intervention.
No new memberships are expected to occur in the near future. All this creates depression in the region with many accompanying risks. In these conditions, the region should think about possible alternatives for speeding up the integration process, which would not be in conflict with the existing compatibility of the European integration process. Could it be the European Economic Area, assisted by the Berlin Process, Open Balkans (Mini-Schengen), CEFTA, etc.?
During this paper we will use especially the methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and history.
Keywords:
Western Balkans, Integration, European Economic Area
Proceedings Editor
Edmond Hajrizi
ISBN
977-9951-550-47-5
Location
UBT Kampus, Lipjan
Start Date
30-10-2021 12:00 AM
End Date
30-10-2021 12:00 AM
DOI
10.33107/ubt-ic.2021.142
Recommended Citation
Bilalli, Mersel, "The Western Balkans and possible alternatives to accelerating EU membership" (2021). UBT International Conference. 75.
https://knowledgecenter.ubt-uni.net/conference/2021UBTIC/all-events/75
Included in
The Western Balkans and possible alternatives to accelerating EU membership
UBT Kampus, Lipjan
"The future of the Balkans lies within the European Union" - this is the central sentence of the European Council conclusions adopted at the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003. Today, almost two decades later, the Western Balkans are even further away from that goal. After mass membership in 2004, then Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, and finally Croatia in 2013, the EU obviously looks tired. Montenegro has entered the twelve years tenth year of negotiations, and the results are still halfway through. Serbia is experiencing the same fate. And other Western Balkan countries have been on "waiting tracks" for decades.
Fulfillment of basic conditions for membership such as - stable democratic institutions, rule of law, respect for human and minority rights, functioning market economy, competitive capacities, etc. - seems to be stagnant. In much of the Western Balkans economies have remained underdeveloped, dependent on aid, loans and remittances, and prone to high levels of state intervention.
No new memberships are expected to occur in the near future. All this creates depression in the region with many accompanying risks. In these conditions, the region should think about possible alternatives for speeding up the integration process, which would not be in conflict with the existing compatibility of the European integration process. Could it be the European Economic Area, assisted by the Berlin Process, Open Balkans (Mini-Schengen), CEFTA, etc.?
During this paper we will use especially the methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and history.