Completing the EU Enlargement to the Balkans: Dancing the European Kolo. A step to the side or a step forward?

This BiEPAG’s policy brief builds on its May 2014 Policy Paper, where different scenarios for the future of the Western Balkans were analysed, coupled with a specific set of recommendations on how to reinvigorate the EU accession process in the region, with particular focus on unresolved bilateral relations and internal political dysfunction in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of this Brief is to consider the latest developments related to the EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, namely the election of the new European Commission, the new initiative for the restart of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession, the announcement of new bilateral conditions, and the on-going deterioration of regional cooperation.

Unfulfilled Promise: Completing the EU Enlargement to the Balkans

Eleven years after the EU committed itself to the European future of the Western Balkans, only one country—Croatia—managed to join. The accession process remains slow and the remaining aspirants in the region are unlikely to enter the EU before the end of the decade. In addition to an increasingly demanding conditionality, member states seem to be intervening more often with the integration process, often delaying in predictable ways. As a majority of citizens in many EU member states oppose further enlargement, membership seems remote and uncertain for many countries in the region. This policy paper explores the risks and opportunities that different potential paths in the integration process can take.