The Future of EU Enlargement

Abstract

Enlargement of the European Union has been often referred to as the most successful EU policy, but during the last decade, since Croatia’s accession, it has been marginalized and stopped mostly due to mutually strengthening reform fatigue in the aspirant countries and enlargement fatigue in the member states. The topic is now back on the Union agenda, with the increasing consensus that the EU has to find the way to take up to ten new members from the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe in near future, perhaps starting in 2030. The new geopolitical context in Europe following Russia’s aggression in Ukraine contributed to this strategic change more than the readiness of current aspirants for the EU membership. 
The first part of the lecture will deal with the explanation of the main weaknesses of the EU enlargement policy for the Western Balkan countries. In the second part the desirable and possible changes of this policy will be elaborated that will have to be preceded by serious institutional and policy changes of the European Union. Special attention will be given to the following issues: one or multi-speed EU; phased accession of what kind; decision-making in EU institutions; increased use of qualified majority voting; the cost of new members and how big the EU budget should be; how to change and preserve most prominent EU policies like CAP or cohesion policy.

Speaker

Jovan Teokarevic - Belgrade University

Bio

Dr. Jovan Teokarević is professor of Comparative Politics at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Serbia (since 2002), and visiting professor at the College of Europe, Natolin Campus, Warsaw (since 2016). He also used to teach previously for many years about the Balkans at the NATO Defence College in Rome and at the Master Program of the University of Vienna. His research, published in 7 authored and 12 edited books, has focused on: post-communist transition, politics in the Balkans, EU and NATO enlargement and EU-Western Balkans relations. Before joining the University of Belgrade, he had worked for 20 years as a research fellow of the Belgrade-based Institute for European Studies. He was also founder and Director of the think tank Belgrade Centre for European Integration, Serbia’s academic coordinator of the international master program in Southeast European Studies (done with the University of Graz), and Chairman of the Governing Board of the Open Society Foundation Serbia.