EU Crisis and the Western Balkans: Enlargement Unaffected

What started as the fiscal challenge later exposed dormant structural problems within the European Union, at large. Among the other crucial areas the crisis impacted on was the coherence and content of the EU foreign policy, as well. Surprisingly, the most successful foreign policy project in EU history – EU enlargement has not been seriously harmed by the protracted political turmoil in Brussels. Common EU efforts to preserve the Euro have long overcome the parameters of the economy and have become a catalyst for transforming the overall patterns of the organization. The aim of this chapter is to analyze different options contemplated thus far for the reform of EU foreign policy and their direct dependence upon the changes eventually made on a broader political level. Western Balkan countries are not part of the current debate, but, they will be heavily affected by its outcome. Our basic assumption is that regardless of the transformations that may be made, EU enlargement policy towards the Western Balkans is going to stay. We would argue that this is because the region can be integrated without substantial EU resources being applied, and also because Western Balkan countries have weak capacities to fundamentally affect the pillars of the future Union once they are admitted in it.