Perpetual crises, the return of geopolitics and the emergence of a new normalcy in Central Europe

The multiple and interconnected crises, including the global financial crisis, the Eurozone crisis, the migrants’ crisis and the ISIS threat, have changed the dynamics of European integration over the past (nearly) decade now. These crises have been equally consequential for the new EU member-states, such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia as well as …Slovenia. Specifically, on the one hand they triggered several unexpected turns and twists on respective domestic political and economic scenes. On the other hand, they revived the question of the Central European countries’ (CEEs) relevance in the EU regulatory/governance process. Inasmuch as these issues are correlated, the objective of this chapter is to explore two questions: (i) In which way the specific paths of transition, transformation and institutionalization of external relations that the CEEs followed have influenced their role in the EU? (ii) How the crises-inflicted changes on their domestic political and economic scenes influence the CEEs’ relevance in the EU regulatory/governance process today. It is argued, that over the past 25 years the CEEs have undergone a remarkable economic, political and social transformation. As a result a reconstitution of the foundational principles that initially defined the nature of transition, transformation and institutionalization of external relations has taken place, incl. the notion of democracy, national identity, and the role of the state in the economy as well as the meaning of the transatlantic space. Arguably, in the shadow of the perpetual crises, the emergence of this state of a new normalcy in Central Europe has been largely ignored elsewhere. Given the unfinished business of the EU economic governance reform and the return of geopolitics in the EU, it is time to shed some light on this issue and suggest ways of bypassing it.