The European Union's 2007 Enlargement

Cristina Chiva, David Phinnemore

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9780415689656
• eBook ISBN: 9781317978763
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book fills a significant gap in recent literature on European Union politics by examining the EU's 'other' eastern enlargement, completed in 2007 with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania. It focuses on both the process and the effects of the 2007 enlargement within the wider context of the post-communist countries' accession to the EU, and, more broadly, within the context of the history of EU enlargement. The book brings together in-depth analyses of a wide range of issues, both from a comparative perspective and through single case studies. Individual contributions shed new light onto EU enlargement through a theoretical re-evaluation of the 'strategic action' paradigm, as well as through historical analyses of the 2007 enlargement and of its implications for future EU enlargements. Further insight into the process of EU enlargement is gained through systematic exploration of the impact of accession on policy-making and institutional structures in Bulgaria and Romania. Altogether, the contributions exemplify the multi-faceted nature of EU enlargement and accession, as well as the extent to which the process of acceding to the EU is not completed with membership, either for the EU or for the candidate countries.

This book was published as a special issue of Perspectives on European Politics and Society.

Preface: The European Union’s 2007 Enlargement

CRISTINA CHIVA* & DAVID PHINNEMORE**

*University of Salford, UK

**Queen’s University Belfast, UK

Bulgaria and Romania have often been described as the ‘laggards’ of the EU’s eastern enlargement. From their applications for EU membership in 1995 to their eventual accession in 2007, the two countries were consistently trailing their Central and Eastern European (CEE) counterparts in the enlargement ‘regatta’ launched by the Luxembourg European Council in 1997. While the EU’s decision to open accession negotiations with all remaining CEE countries two years later enabled, at least in principle, each country to accede if and when it was ready for membership, neither Bulgaria nor Romania were successful in either keeping up with Lithuania, Slovakia or Latvia which began negotiations at the same time or catching up with the ‘ins’ of Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia whose negotiations were already underway. The difficulties inherent in overcoming the immense political, economic and administrative challenges involved in meeting the Copenhagen criteria were reflected in virtually every European Commission report between 1998 and 2006. Indeed, the Commission’s recommendation as to the actual date of accession to the Union was only made in September 2006, just a few months before the two countries joined, demonstrating the reluctance with which the EU and the member states tidied up the eastern enlargement. The introduction of post-accession monitoring, itself a decision without precedent in the history of EU enlargement, constituted both an acknowledgement of the difficulties posed by Bulgaria’s and Romania’s accession and a warning that further widening was to become increasingly problematic.

This special issue focuses not only on the process and effects of the EU’s 2007 enlargement but places it within the wider context of the enlargement more generally. It considers, for example, whether the accession of Bulgaria and Romania was simply a coda to the ‘big bang’ enlargement of 2004 or significant in its own right. Evidence for the former includes the fact that both Romania and Bulgaria benefited from the momentum of eastern enlargement, which made it possible for the two countries to join despite falling far behind most of the other CEE countries in virtually all areas covered by the EU’s conditionality. Nevertheless, the 2007 enlargement cannot be seen simply as a tidying up exercise for the EU or the delayed conclusion of the 2004 round. The contributions to this special issue, most notably those provided by Papadimitriou and Gateva and by Phinnemore, highlight distinctive features of Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the EU and point to a range of implications for our understanding of the dynamics of EU enlargement.

Given the sheer magnitude of the challenges facing an expanding EU since the mid-1990s, the fast pace of the accession process and the variety of domestic political contexts in the ten CEE countries formerly behind the Iron Curtain, it is perhaps unsurprising that the literature on eastern enlargement has only recently begun to explore the Bulgarian and Romanian cases in any detail. This has been achieved in a number of ways: from a broader comparative perspective (Vachudova, 2005; Grabbe, 2006), via more direct comparison (Noutcheva & Bechev, 2008) and as single-case studies (Papadimitriou & Phinnemore, 2008). The contributions to this special issue enhance scholarly understanding not only of Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the EU enlargement but also of the process of EU enlargement more generally.

A key contribution consists in expanding comparative research on EU enlargement by placing the Romanian and Bulgarian cases within the wider context of the past and future enlargements of the Union. From a theoretical perspective, Pop sheds new light onto EU enlargement by providing a timely and comprehensive re-evaluation of Frank Schimmelfennig’s influential theory of strategic action (2001) from a Bourdieuian point of view, applicable not only to the eastern expansion of the Union but also to other EU enlargement rounds. From a historical perspective, the two most important points of reference are, on the one hand, the 2004 round (Engelbrekt in this issue), and, on the other hand, the future expansion of the EU, most notably towards Turkey (İçener in this issue). The broader scope for analysis is complemented by in-depth comparisons of the Bulgarian and Romanian cases (Bechev, Chiva, Papadimitriou & Gateva, and Phinnemore in this issue), seldom examined together in existing literature. Furthermore, Dobre’s study of regional reform in Romania draws attention to the ways in which literature on EU enlargement can be enriched by an in-depth exploration of single-case studies.

The contributions gathered in this issue also exemplify the multi-faceted nature of EU enlargement and accession. Engelbrekt examines the issue of institutional integrity, a controversial and under-researched aspect of the accession process in Central and Eastern Europe, while Dobre explores the ways in which regionalisation in Romania has been largely underpinned by a process of territorial reform rather than by the formation of political identities at the regional level. As Chiva’s study of gender equality policies in Bulgaria and Romania shows, the process of EU accession has profoundly affected even relatively marginal policy areas that were unlikely to trigger candidate countries being denied membership. Papadimitriou and Gateva argue that Bulgaria and Romania provide ‘a critical test case’ for literature on enlargement-led Europeanisation, while also indicating the importance of domestic mediating factors in producing divergent reform trajectories across Central and Eastern Europe.

Finally, the studies collected here illustrate that the process of acceding to the EU is not completed with membership, either for the EU or for the former candidate countries. Bechev’s exploration of foreign policy-making in Bulgaria and Romania after joining the EU demonstrates the extent to which habits induced by the EU accession process persist after membership, with both countries remaining largely ‘policy-takers’ rather than effective entrepreneurs in the EU’s approach towards neighbouring countries. Phinnemore shows that the 2007 enlargement is significant for the way in which the EU’s handling of enlargement continues to evolve, while Icener’s analysis of the Romanian and Turkish cases fleshes out the EU’s differentiated approach toward applicant states.

Within a single special issue there is not the space to offer a comprehensive account of the process leading to and the implications of Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the EU. The contributions collected here do nevertheless provide valuable insights from the 2007 enlargement round into the nature and effects of accession to and the enlargement of the EU. They not only provide partial correctives to established scholarly perspectives on enlargement and to the emphasis within the literature to date on the EU’s 2004 enlargement and the CEE countries involved in it, but they also confirm – importantly – the evolving nature of the process. Their significance lies not simply in providing commentary on and analysis of the EU’s most recent enlargement round but in establishing a deeper understanding of a process that, however uncertain it may now be, remains incomplete. There are lessons for the EU and for current and potential candidates and applicants to be learnt from the 2007 enlargement.

Acknowledgements

The editors would like to thank the contributors and each other for bringing this project to completion. Some of the papers included in this issue were originally presented at the conference The European Union’s South-Eastern Enlargement, held at the University of Salford on 26–28 January 2007. The conference was co-funded by the European Commission’s Jean Monnet programme (grant number 2006-1930/001-001) and the European Studies Research Institute of the University of Salford, whose support is gratefully acknowledged.

References

Grabbe, H. (2006) The EU’s Transformative Power: Europeanisation through Conditionality in Central and Eastern Europe (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

Noutcheva, G. & Bechev, D. (2008) The successful laggards: Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the EU, East European Politics and Societies, 22(1), pp. 114–144.

Papadimitriou, D. & Phinnemore, D. (2008) Romania and the EU: From Marginalisation to Membership (London: Routledge).

Schimmelfennig, F. (2001) The community trap: Liberal norms, rhetorical action and the eastern enlargement of the European Union, International Organization, 55(1), pp. 47–80.

Vachudova, M. A. (2005) Europe Undivided: Democracy, Leverage and Integration After Communism (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

Between Enlargement-Led Europeanisation and Balkan Exceptionalism: An Appraisal of Bulgaria’s and Romania’s Entry into the European Union

DIMITRIS PAPADIMITRIOU & ELI GATEVA

University of Manchester, UK

ABSTRACT The accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union in 2007 offers significant theoretical and empirical insights into the way in which the EU has deployed and realised its enlargement strategy/strategies over the past 15 years. Borrowing from the literature on enlargement-led Europeanisation and EU conditionality, this article discusses how the EU has sought to influence domestic reform in the two countries through a mix of threats and rewards. What emerges from Bulgaria and Romania’s trajectory towards EU membership is the evolutionary and contested nature of EU conditionality as well as the considerable EU discretion in the manner of its implementation. In that sense Bulgaria and Romania, as ‘outliers’ of the 2004–2007 EU enlargement, offer us critical tests of the enlargement-led Europeanisation thesis. Thus, this study provides useful conceptual insights into the transformative power of the EU in Central and Eastern Europe and highlights important policy legacies affecting the current EU enlargement strategy in the Western Balkans and Turkey.

Whilst often regarded as the ‘procedural’ conclusion of the 2004 enlargement round, the accession of Bulgaria and Romania into the European Union in 2007 offers significant theoretical and empirical insights into the way in which the EU has deployed and realised its enlargement strategy/strategies over the past 15 years. Ever since their turbulent transition to democracy in the early 1990s, the two countries have experienced difficult relations with the EU. For officials in Brussels the slow pace of democratic consolidation and domestic economic reform has been a regular source of frustration, necessitating the enactment of special measures to account for the ‘Balkan exceptionalism’ of the two candidates. Naturally all attempts to differentiate Bulgaria and Romania from the candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been met with fierce opposition in Sofia and Bucharest, where political elites have found it difficult to reconcile their pro-European rhetoric with the implementation of a reform agenda capable of meeting the considerable conditionalities attached to the enlargement process.

Conceptually, the position of Bulgaria and Romania as ‘outliers’ in the process of the EU’s eastward enlargement offers a critical test case to the thesis of enlargement-led Europeanisation. It also points to the significance of domestic mediating factors that condition the transformational impact of the EU and have produced divergent reform trajectories across Central and Eastern Europe. In policy terms, too, the imperative of dealing with ‘outliers’ (and more generally with the significant degree of diversity amongst accession candidates) underlines the highly contingent and evolutionary nature of the EU’s enlargement strategy. The word ‘strategy’ is used here with a degree of caution for, ever since its inception in the early 1990s, the EU’s approach vis-à-vis its accession hopefuls has been built upon an uncomfortable dualism: on the one hand the building of a rule-governed process structured around the principle of conditionality and, on the other, the preservation of a significant element of discretion about the interpretation and implementation of these rules.

The position of the Commission in this process – both as a ‘policy entrepreneur’ (Kingdon, 1984) on enlargement and as the arbitrator of the ‘rules of the game’ – has been crucially important. From an early stage the Commission assumed a key role in driving the enlargement agenda forward against the backdrop of internal EU divisions (over the pace and scope of the process) as well as a rapidly changing geopolitical context involving, amongst others, the wars of succession in the former Yugoslavia and NATO enlargement. Under these circumstances the Commission was called to exercise discretion that went well beyond the bureaucratic oversight of the accession negotiations and deployed a different mix of rewards and punishments for each candidate country. Naturally the premises and implications of such discretion acquired far greater significance for ‘marginal candidates’ on the edges of the enlargement process. By tracing the key components of the EU’s response to the Bulgarian and Romanian membership ambitions, this article does not simply shed light on facets of an EU enlargement round that is now confined to history. The contemporary relevance of previous EU attempts to deal with ‘Balkan exceptionalism’ remains pertinent as the policy legacies of the 2007 enlargement continue to shape the context in which current and forthcoming accession hopefuls pursue their own ‘return to Europe’.

This article is structured in three parts. The first part revisits the literature of enlargement-led Europeanisation and discusses the ‘added value’ offered by the experiences of the 2007 enlargement. The second part discusses aspects of differentiation and policy-learning evident in the EU’s strategy vis-à-vis Bulgaria and Romania since the early 1990s. The third part articulates some of the policy legacies of the Bulgarian and Romanian accession into the EU and their likely implications for the membership prospects of other enlargement candidates from the wider Balkans.

Revisiting Conditionality-Led Europeanisation in the Context of the EU’s 2004–2007 Enlargement

One of the most distinguishing features of the recently completed round of EU enlargement has been the demand for the adoption by the candidate countries of an unprecedented volume of EU-inspired rules. The very nature of the accession negotiations (structured around the need for full compliance with the EU’s acquis communautaire) coupled with the extremely tight timeframe and profound power asymmetries between the negotiating parties have unleashed massive pressure for domestic adaptation across Central and Eastern Europe. This process has often been referred to as ‘Europeanisation’. Initially the term was used to describe the way in which the experience of EU membership affected ‘the organisational logic of national politics and policy making’ in the member states (Ladrech, 1994, p. 69). Radaelli (2003, p. 30) speaks of Europeanisation as a process of ‘construction, diffusion and institutionalisation’ of EU rules that shape ‘domestic discourse, identities, political structures and public policies’. Owing to its rapid expansion over the past decade, the literature on Europeanisation offers us today a bewildering array of perspectives, ranging from case-specific manifestations of Europeanisation dynamics (e.g. Börzel, 1999) to more general conceptualisations on the nature of the interactivity between European and national levels (e.g. Cowles et al., 2001; Bulmer & Lequesne, 2005) and the mechanisms through which Europeanisation impacts on domestic politics (e.g. Knill & Lehmkuhl, 1999).

More recently conceptualisations of Europeanisation as an ‘export’ – particularly in the context of the EU’s eastwards enlargement – have also been utilised to illustrate the impact of the EU beyond its own geographical confines (e.g. Goetz, 2001; Lippert et al., 2001; Grabbe, 2003; Papadimitriou & Phinnemore, 2004, 2008). The principle of conditionality – one of the key components of the EU’s strategy in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe – is widely acknowledged to be the driving force behind the process of enlargement-led Europeanisation. Indeed the principle of conditionality, with all its multiple guises and methods of application, has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention, both in the context of EU enlargement and the wider field of the EU’s external relations (see, for example, Smith, 1998, 2005; Pridham, 2002, 2006). Building on a rationalist perspective, Schimmelfennig and Sedelmeier (2004, p. 662) define conditionality as a ‘bargaining strategy of rein...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• 1. Preface: The European Union’s 2007 Enlargement
• 2. Between Enlargement-Led Europeanisation and Balkan Exceptionalism: An Appraisal of Bulgaria’s and Romania’s Entry into the European Union
• 3. The Impact of Enlargement on Institutional Integrity in Central and Eastern Europe
• 4. The Dynamics of Europeanisation and Regionalisation: Regional Reform in Romania
• 5. The Limits of Europeanisation: EU Accession and Gender Equality in Bulgaria and Romania
• 6. From Policy-Takers to Policy-Makers? Observations on Bulgarian and Romanian Foreign Policy Before and After EU Accession
• 7. Understanding Romania and Turkey’s Integration with the European Union: Conditionality, Security Considerations and Identity
• 8. From Negotiations to Accession: Lessons from the 2007 Enlargement
• 9. Strategic Action is Not Enough: A Bourdieuian Approach to EU Enlargement
• Index