Vladimir Đorđević, Richard Q. Turcsányi, V. Vučković
{"title":"Beyond the EU as the ‘Only Game in Town’: the Europeanisation of the Western Balkans and the role of China","authors":"Vladimir Đorđević, Richard Q. Turcsányi, V. Vučković","doi":"10.47743/ejes-2021-0202","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The prospect of accession of the Western Balkans into the EU has been declining, with Brussels unwilling to accept new members, and the Western Balkan region becoming indifferent towards adopting EU-imposed norms. Although this process has been extensively studied, the academic literature has largely omitted the roles of external actors. This article fills the gap by focusing on China and its role vis-à-vis the ongoing Europeanisation of Serbia and Montenegro, both of which host significant Chinese investments and are regional frontrunners in the EU enlargement process. We begin by addressing theoretical aspects of Europeanisation and then apply this framework to our case studies. Our position is that the two states’ turn to the policy of alternatives is the result of failing Europeanisation, allowing them to deepen their engagement with China an action that has become synonymous with the policy of alternatives to EU enlargement.","PeriodicalId":43713,"journal":{"name":"Eastern Journal of European Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Eastern Journal of European Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.47743/ejes-2021-0202","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"AREA STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
The prospect of accession of the Western Balkans into the EU has been declining, with Brussels unwilling to accept new members, and the Western Balkan region becoming indifferent towards adopting EU-imposed norms. Although this process has been extensively studied, the academic literature has largely omitted the roles of external actors. This article fills the gap by focusing on China and its role vis-à-vis the ongoing Europeanisation of Serbia and Montenegro, both of which host significant Chinese investments and are regional frontrunners in the EU enlargement process. We begin by addressing theoretical aspects of Europeanisation and then apply this framework to our case studies. Our position is that the two states’ turn to the policy of alternatives is the result of failing Europeanisation, allowing them to deepen their engagement with China an action that has become synonymous with the policy of alternatives to EU enlargement.
期刊介绍:
The Eastern Journal of European Studies (EJES) seeks to provide a forum for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary dialogue between ideas, and a framework for theoretical and empirical analyses covering major topics in European studies: European history, politics, European economy and European policies, EU community law, European culture and society. EJES encourages studies focusing on Central and Eastern Europe (including Eastern Neighbourhood) in order to better understand its transformations induced by the integration process and to address its specific challenges by supporting scientific debates on the general European theory and practice. Furthermore, the editorial board regularly invites distinguished guest editors to coordinate thematic issues.