EMU Enhanced Integration and the Challenge of a "TwoSpeed Europe" for the Western Balkan Candidate Countries

In recent years Europe has faced many economic and social difficulties, with continued financial troubles, fear of sovereign defaults, rising unemployment and social tensions in several European economies. These concerns have led many to question the very viability of the euro and have raised the need to rethink the European Union project itself. The economic priorities of the EU have changed substantially. One of the main goals of the EU has become the achievement of a genuine Economic and Monetary Union. However, EMU enhanced integration may possibly create new dividing lines within EU and at least a “two-speed Europe”. After decades of integration, the EU is far from being a homogeneous entity. Large disparities exist among Member States and the differences in economic development are growing. Currently there are several different circles of European integration, such as: the EU and the Eurozone; the European Free Trade Association; and the Schengen zone. The process of reforming the EMU is not directly linked with the EU accession process. However, many politicians at an EU or a national level have started to make a connection between the two and to emphasize the “trade-off” between widening and deepening, arguing that the first would obstruct the second. The current paper will address the following interlinked questions: Does current EMU enhanced integration mean that Candidate Countries will not join a “first class” economic membership in the EU? Can the challenge of the potential establishment of a “two-speed Europe” be turned into an opportunity for the Western Balkan Candidate Countries to speak with one voice?