Among the main stumbling blocks of European Union-Western Balkan integration are the differences in perceptions on both sides. Today, the gap between what the Western Balkan politicians and citizens think about the European Union and what the politicians and citizens in the EU member states think about the Western Balkans is probably wider than ever. This volume offers fresh insights about these misperceptions and how to possibly bridge the gap. It examines perceptions about the region’s “European perspectives” both on the side of the six Western Balkan countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – and the key European Union member states (Italy, Germany, Croatia), international donors, USA. An analysis of the diverse views regarding the prospects of EU – Western Balkan integration is today highly relevant, in view of the current uncertainties regarding European Union’s enlargement policy, particularly after the attack of Russia on Ukraine and candidate status granted to Ukraine and Moldova.

Offers a collection of contributions, combining authoritative views of central bank officials and policymakers, topical empirical evidence from academia and refreshing practical insights from companies doing business in the area. This book will be useful to economists as well as those generally interested in the future of the EU.

The book investigates the scope and limitations of the transformative power of EU enlargement in the Western Balkans. The extension of EU enlargement policy to the region has generated high expectations that enlargement will regulate democratic institution-building and foster reform, much as it did in Central and Eastern Europe. However, there is very little research on whether and how unfavourable domestic conditions might mitigate the transformative power of the EU. This volume investigates the role of domestic factors, identifying ‘stateness’ as the missing link between the assumed transformative power of the EU and the actual capacity to adopt EU rules across the region. Including chapters on Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, leading scholars in the field offer up-to-date comparative analysis of key areas of institutional and policy reform; including state bureaucracy, rule of law, electoral management, environmental governance, cooperation with the International Court of Justice, economic liberalization and foreign policy. Looking to the future and the implications for policy change, European Integration and Transformation in the Western Balkans provides a new theoretical and empirical focus on this little understood area. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of EU politics, comparative democratisation, post-communist transitions and Balkan area studies.

Despite all efforts to create a political union capable of improving European citizens’ quality of life, there are several barriers to the European Union’s (EU) expansion to the Balkan Region. The EU enlargement and expansion to the Balkan Region is one of the Union’s greatest challenges and political objectives in recent years. In the turmoil of economic, social, and sanitarian crises, where is the space to debate the enlargement of the EU? Challenges and Barriers to the European Union Expansion to the Balkan Region presents the EU’s structure, the process of enlargement, and the challenges related to the Balkan region. This book addresses critical issues and challenges in the EU and the emerging trends for the EU’s future. Covering topics such as enlargement policy, integration, NATO, and political challenges, this book is a valuable resource for post-grad students of political science and international affairs, faculty of higher education, researchers, academicians, politicians, world leaders, and policymakers.

In light of Europe’s prolonged state of crisis, this book reassesses the challenges and prospects of the European integration process. Scholars from diverse disciplines reflect on various types of integration by analyzing political, economic and sociological variables, while also taking legal and cultural constraints into account. Readers will learn about the dilemmas and challenges of the European transformation process as well as political reforms to overcome these challenges. The book is divided into four parts, the first of which discusses the external dimension of the European Union, including a review of development aid policies and EU foreign policy. In turn, the second part focuses on institutional change and asymmetrical integration in the EU. The third part is devoted to the rise of populism and nationalism, including an analysis of the role of civil society organizations in the Brexit. In closing, the last part highlights the crisis of the Euro as a symbol of European integration and the emerging social and economic divide between countries of the North and South.

Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in the Western Balkans examines the education situation of Roma in the Western Balkans, providing an overview of the education policies for Roma in 5 EU-candidate and potential candidate countries: Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia.

Redefining EU Membership examines the issue of Membership within the European Union (EU) today by focusing on differentiation in and outside the EU. The Treaty on European Union unequivocally declares that the contracting parties are the Member States of the EU. However, a closer examination casts some doubt of the unitary status of Member States, or at least suggests that the concept requires nuancing. Whilst diversity, and to some extent differentiation, have been part and parcel of the European integration process since its inception, Redefining EU Membership proposes that, considering several developments, a new reflection on membership within the EU and on differentiation in and outside the EU is required. The volume's contributions are organized around four aspects of the tensions faced by the concept of a unitary and formal EU membership: first, an examination of key policy areas which have already witnessed various forms of differentiated integration; second, an analysis of 'special statuses' within the EU; third, important examples of non-Member States in which EU law is applied (with and without their participation in the EU's decision-making process); and fourth, the situation of states under accession or secession procedures which obliges them to accept EU norms and policies even prior to/after formal membership. These analyses are complemented by a reflection on the concept of membership in itself. In a context in which EU enlargement appears likely, the provided analysis reflects on the need to expand and introduce several kinds of membership to the EU in the future.

The Routledge Handbook of Differentiation in the European Union offers an essential collection of groundbreaking chapters reflecting on the causes and consequences of this complex phenomenon. With contributions from key experts in this subfield of European Studies, it will become a key volume used for those interested in learning the nuts and bolts of differentiation as a mechanism of (dis)integration in the European Union, especially in the light of Brexit. Organised around five key themes, it offers an authoritative "encyclopaedia" of differentiation and addresses questions such as: How can one define differentiation in the European Union in the light of the most recent events? Does differentiation create more challenges or opportunities for the European Union? Is Europe moving away from an "ever closer Union" and heading towards an "ever more differentiated Union", especially as leading political figures across Europe favour the use of differentiation to reconcile divergences between member states? This handbook is essential reading and an authoritative reference for scholars, students, researchers and practitioners involved in, and actively concerned about, research in the study of European integration. As European differentiation is multifaceted and involves a wide range of actors and policies, it will be of further interest to those working on countries and/or in policy areas where differentiation is an increasingly relevant feature. The Introduction and chapters 13, 21, 30, and 35 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

The Economics and Politics of European Integration offers a comprehensive history of European integration, from the conceptualization of a United States of Europe, to the present day. The special role of the United States in this process of integration, and the expansion and evolution of the European Union, is critically analyzed. The book also thoroughly discusses the current view of the EU and the complex crises emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the book focuses primarily on Europe, the role of other countries is also examined. The rise of hostile enemies from Turkey, Russia, the US and China is explored, and the history and outcome of Brexit also receives unique focus. Maps are used throughout to clearly depict the enlargement process. This illuminating text will be valuable reading for students and researchers across international economics, economic history, political economy and European studies.

Insiders and outsiders agree; there is something particular about negotiating in Brussels. This book analyses ten years of continuous negotiations about EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, answering questions such as When and how are decisions typically reached in the European Union? What is this ‘culture of consensus’ that pervades negotiations in the Council of Ministers? And why are some member states more successful than others in making their voices heard? Using the metaphor of the Caucus race from Alice in Wonderland, Smeets' book offers a fresh perspective on the decision-making realities in Brussels’ European Quarter. By providing unique empirical insight into behind-closed-doors debates, it explains the faltering accession process of the countries of former Yugoslavia. But most of all, it reveals the mechanism by which national interests are accommodated, so that deals can be reached between the member states.