The (Ir)Reversibility of Europeanisation and Post-Communist Politics

Abstract

The recent political events in Hungary and Romania reinforced pessimistic readings of the record of post-accession Europeanization and challenged the literature that heralded the success of EU political conditionality. These latest developments moved beyond chronic weaknesses of new member states (the difficulty to pursue judicial reforms and anti-corruption measures) endangering the democratic fabric and questioning the commitment of ruling elites to European values. Are these developments a result of EU weakness or of populist national politics? Are these political derailments short-term crises or the result of a chronic malaise of post-communist politics? Or was Europeanization overrated? Domestic political discourse has also increasingly gained an anti-Brussels dimension in the newest EU member states. Are these ‘normal’ post-accession blues? Or has the EU, crippled by the eurocrisis, lost its leverage over these governments previously kept in line by the “stick and carrot” model? We invite papers which reflect upon the Europeanization (or lack of) of political elites, parties and party systems, as well as specific policy areas. We look to address in particular the functioning of the EU conditionality mechanism and its post-accession correspondents, as well as the weight of national characteristics in determining the sustainability of the Europeanization process. We welcome a variety of methodological and theoretical approaches which may prompt a re-conceptualization of Europeanization and which cover both longitudinal and cross-country studies.

Title	Details
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Europeanisation, Good Governance and Corruption in Romania and Bulgaria	View Paper Details
Europeanisation Through Mobility: Visa Liberalisation and Citizenship Regimes in the Western Balkans	View Paper Details
Challenges of Europeanisation – Bulgaria’s and Romania’s Structural Funds Absorption Capacity for 2007-2013 – A Focus on Regional Actors	View Paper Details
Smallness and Polarised Pluralism: Roots of Resistance to Europeanisation in the Slovenian Audio-visual Media Sector	View Paper Details