The European Union’s Economic Conditionality and Europeanization of the Western Balkans

Abstract

This article evaluates the role that the economic conditionality of the European Union (EU) toward the six Western Balkan countries may play in the transformation of these countries as a part of their EU accession process. The article is a case study of a temporary policy shift that occurred in 2014 in relation to conditions that Bosnia and Herzegovina must fulfill to qualify for opening negotiations on EU membership. It also aims to address what this shift has achieved for the Europeanization of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its progress towards EU accession. The shift, implemented via an economic plan called the Reform Agenda, was an attempt at Europeanization of the country’s economic policies that temporarily put aside the constitutional reform demands that had previously dominated the Europeanization discourse. After the first five years of the Reform Agenda, moderate gains primarily in the domain of economic development and fiscal stability were made; however, political fragmentation and nationalistic and secessionist ideas have prevented the reforms from making a stronger impact. Additionally, the lack of a defined desired outcome in terms of measurable economic reforms and the inadequate planning by the EU were not conducive to a more transformative impact.