This book examines the EU's deepening relationship with the countries of the Western Balkans from a constructivist perspective, analyzing the different ways (geopolitical, economic, normative/institutional adaptation) in which the EU's enlargement process has impacted on the region, and the extent to which enlargement has helped stabilize, democratize and Europeanize the region. In the aftermath of its 2004 eastern enlargement the European Union has gone a long way toward achieving its stated ambition of 'ever closer union' among the peoples and states of Europe and creating a genuinely pan-European framework of economic, legal and political integration. With Bulgaria and Romania scheduled to join the EU on 1 January 2007, the integration of the Western Balkans region into EU structures has become the most important and pressing challenge facing the EU. The chapters analyze the nature and extent of EU engagement with the Western Balkans region since the early 1990s, examining the various instruments and channels employed by Brussels in its efforts to stabilize, democratize and 'Europeanize' the region.
The EU and the Western Balkans will be of great interest to students and scholars of political science, European studies, history and economics.