Strategy for the Western Balkans

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  States that have voted to withdraw from the European Union
  Recognized candidate countries
  Candidate countries
  States that have withdrawn or interrupted their candidacies

The Strategy for the Western Balkans (also known as "A credible enlargement perspective for and enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans") is a policy pursued by the EU with its partners and accession candidates in the western region of the Balkan Peninsula. Announced by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in his 2017 State of the Union address, this policy brings together the objectives of the global strategy for CSDP and the enlargement policy specific to the states in this region. [1]

Contents

History

In 1999, the European Union launched the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP) to strengthen its role in the region and provide long-term support for the reconstruction and development of countries in the wake of the wars in the former Yugoslavia. At international level, this approach was accompanied by the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe, supported by the EU, NATO, the OSCE, the IMF, the World Bank and other major international players. [2] Since then, an annual EU-Balkans summit has been organized; the first was held in Zagreb in November 2000, and in 2003 the Thessaloniki European Council reaffirmed that all SAP countries were potential candidates for membership. [3]

In 2018, this regional sub-group comprised five of the six candidate states (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) and Kosovo, which only has the status of a potential candidate. Each of these states has signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU to facilitate their approximation to EU standards (Copenhagen criteria and eventual acquis communautaire ). [4]

To support and reinvigorate the candidate countries' efforts to meet the accession criteria, the European Commission, through its President, adopted a strategy at the end of 2017 focusing on priorities and areas for enhanced joint cooperation. [5] The strategy detailed by Jean-Claude Juncker in his State of the Union address in September 2017 and prepared in advance by the Commission and EEAS includes an action plan focusing on six initiatives relating to the EU's strategy in the Balkans with an increased budget allocated to pre-accession instruments and regional initiatives. [6]

According to the President of the European Commission: "If we want more stability in our neighborhood, we must offer credible prospects to the countries of the Western Balkans"; he also added that "there will be no further accessions during the term of office of this Commission" (2014-2019). [7] Beyond this regional policy, the EU is also committed to working alongside its member states and partners to resolve local issues such as the debate over the name of Macedonia, [8] or the dispute over the delineation of the border between Kosovo and Serbia. [9]

Specific features of the region

Territorial entities when Yugoslavia broke up in 1991. La guerre en Ex-Yougoslavie.svg
Territorial entities when Yugoslavia broke up in 1991.
Ethnic distribution of populations in the Western Balkans in 2008. Ethnic distribution of populations in the Western Balkans in 2008.png
Ethnic distribution of populations in the Western Balkans in 2008.

With the redefinition of borders and forced population movements that followed the inter-ethnic conflicts of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia, the Western Balkans were sharply divided, and deep-rooted tensions remained. The Dayton Accords put an end to the war in Bosnia (1995) by separating the country into two distinct regions and creating a federal government managed by a collective tripartite presidency and supervised by an international High Representative. The agreements also provided for the intervention of a NATO intervention force (IFOR), which was replaced by the European Union's Althea force in 2004. Kosovo became independent in 2008, at the cost of a mass exodus of Albanian and Serbian populations. Here too, a NATO force was set up (KFOR), supported by an administration mission that was replaced by the European Union's civilian mission EULEX Kosovo. [10]

Since the fall of Yugoslavia and the end of the Communist regime, economic development in the Balkans has lagged significantly behind that of other regions in Eastern Europe; for example, in 1990, Macedonia's GDP was three times lower than Slovenia's; in 2003, it was fifty times lower. [3] This lack of development has led to an expansion of black market and illegal activities in the region. [11]

Demographic trends in the Balkans are also specific: the number of inhabitants is declining for two main reasons: the fertility rate is below 1 child per woman [3] (compared with 1.4 on average in Europe - well below the generational renewal rate of 2.1), and with significant income and development gaps compared with the rest of Europe, a massive exodus (particularly of young people) is taking place; Macedonia is said to have lost almost a quarter of its population in twenty-five years; Serbia lost 160,000 people between 2002 and 2011, and the Serbian National Statistics Office estimates that the country could have fewer than 6 million inhabitants in 2030, [12] compared with 7.7 in 2016. Bosnia-Herzegovina has also been hard hit by the phenomenon, with an estimated 170,000 departures over the past five years. [13]

For High Representative Federica Mogherini: "The Western Balkans are part of Europe: we share the same history, the same geography, the same cultural heritage, as well as the same opportunities and challenges today and in the future [...] This strategy shows the path we must follow: for all our six partners, overcoming the past once and for all, and for all of us, making the process of bringing the Western Balkans closer to the European Union an irreversible one, and continuing to reunite the continent". [5]

Goals

Through six main initiatives, this strategy aims to support the transformation of the Western Balkans so that the countries concerned meet the values of the European Union and, in the longer term, are able to achieve the convergence criteria: [6]

The strategy also sets out the steps to be taken by Montenegro and Serbia to complete their accession processes, with the aim of meeting the Copenhagen criteria by 2025. [1]

Resources

The European Parliament is responsible for managing the budget allocated to this policy; for 2018 alone, funding for pre-accession instruments has risen to 1.07 billion euros for the Western Balkans region, and is set to increase until 2020; over the period 2007-2017, it was around 9 billion euros. [1] The main program is IPA II, which forms the financial basis of the new strategy; for the 2014-2020 period, a budget of 11.7 billion euros has been voted for this pre-accession instrument alone, which is managed in line with the objectives of the European institutions and the monitoring reports drawn up by the European Commission. [15]

Monitoring of the use of aid is carried out by the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, which appoints permanent rapporteurs for all candidate and potential candidate countries; the Parliament expresses its positions in annual reports on each country. [16]

The European Commission also points out that the Union is the leading investor and trading partner in the region, with a total annual volume of trade amounting to 43 billion euros (2016). [17]

The Brdo-Brijuni and Berlin processes

The Brdo-Brijuni Process is a diplomatic initiative launched by Croatia and Slovenia in 2013 with the aim of working together to stabilize the region and accelerate the EU accession processes of the countries in the Western Balkans region.

The Berlin Process was launched by Germany in 2014, along with a number of other EU countries and all the Western Balkan states; although it is not directly overseen by European bodies, some of the objectives are similar (mainly regional cooperation and development of the region's infrastructure and economy), and funding is provided by European and external bodies (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European Investment Bank (EIB)). [18]

Applications for accession to the European Union [a]
ApplicantSubmittedAccession /
failure rationale
Flag of Albania.svg Albania 28 April 2009 [19] Negotiating
Flag of Austria.svg Austria 17 July 19891 January 1995
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium Founder23 July 1952
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Bosnia and Herzegovina 15 February 2016 [20] Candidate
Flag of Bulgaria.svg Bulgaria 14 December 19951 January 2007
Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia 21 February 20031 July 2013
Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus 3 July 19901 May 2004
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic 17 January 19961 May 2004
Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark 10 August 1961 [b] Withdrawn
11 May 19671 January 1973
Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia 24 November 19951 May 2004
Flag of Finland.svg Finland 18 March 19921 January 1995
Flag of France.svg France Founder23 July 1952
Flag of Georgia.svg Georgia 3 March 2022 [21] Applicant
Flag of Germany.svg West Germany [c] Founder23 July 1952
Flag of Greece.svg Greece 12 June 19751 January 1981
Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary 31 March 19941 May 2004
Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland 17 July 2009 [d] [22] [23] [24] Frozen
Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland 31 July 1961 [e] Withdrawn
11 May 19671 January 1973
Flag of Italy.svg Italy Founder23 July 1952
Flag of Kosovo.svg Kosovo [25] 14 December 2022 [20] Applicant
Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia 13 September 19951 May 2004
Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania 8 December 19951 May 2004
Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg Founder23 July 1952
Flag of Malta.svg Malta 16 July 1990 [f] [26] Frozen
1 May 2004
Flag of Moldova.svg Moldova 3 March 2022 [27] Candidate
Flag of Montenegro.svg Montenegro 15 December 2008 [20] Negotiating
Flag of Morocco.svg Morocco 20 July 1987 [g] [28] Rejected
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands Founder23 July 1952
Flag of North Macedonia.svg North Macedonia [h] 22 March 2004 [19] Negotiating
Flag of Norway.svg Norway 30 April 1962 [i] Withdrawn
21 July 1967 [j] [29] Withdrawn
25 November 1992 [k] [30] Withdrawn
Flag of Poland.svg Poland 5 April 19941 May 2004
Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal 28 March 19771 January 1986
Flag of Romania.svg Romania 22 June 19951 January 2007
Flag of Serbia.svg Serbia 22 December 2009 [20] Negotiating
Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia 27 June 19951 May 2004
Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovenia 10 June 19961 May 2004
Flag of Spain.svg Spain 9 February 1962 [l] [31] Rejected
28 June 19771 January 1986
Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden 1 July 19911 January 1995
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland 25 May 1992 [m] [32] [33] [34] [35] Withdrawn
Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey 14 April 1987 [36] [37] [38] [20] Frozen negotiations
Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine 28 February 2022 [27] Candidate
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom 10 August 1961 [n] Vetoed
10 May 19671 January 1973

See also

Notes

  1. Applications to the European Coal and Steel Community, European Communities and European Union depending on date.
  2. Due to veto of UK application.
  3. On 3 October 1990, East Germany joined West Germany through the process of German reunification; since then, the reunited Germany has been a single member state.
  4. Due to the election of new government.
  5. Due to veto of UK application.
  6. Due to election of new government in October 1996. Resumed following another election of a new government in September 1998.
  7. By the European Council.
  8. Referred to as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" by the EU before 2019.
  9. Due to veto of UK application.
  10. By Norway after a referendum.
  11. By Norway after a referendum.
  12. By the European Council.
  13. Due to public opinion.
  14. By France.

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Bibliography