Promoting Regional Cooperation: The EU in South Eastern Europe

Abstract

Promoting regional cooperation has been one of the EU priorities in South Eastern Europe since the mid-1990s. However, the EU's regional approach has often been weakened by the prevailing bilateral dimension of its policies towards SEE countries, and not adequately supported by stringent conditionality. Nevertheless, recent progress has been achieved in several specific areas of regional cooperation, such as trade, energy and parliamentary cooperation, and countries of the region are increasingly assuming responsibility on cooperation processes, as the transition from the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe to the regionally owned and led Regional Cooperation Council seems to prove.

Notes

¹ In this article, South Eastern Europe is referred to as the group of countries/territories identified as beneficiaries of the Stability Pact, that is Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and UNMIK/Kosovo. The Balkans and the Balkan region are meant as the same group minus Moldova. The Western Balkans are the EU partners in the Stabilisation and Association process, that is Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia including UNMIK/Kosovo.

² The Contact Group is currently composed of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. Created in April 1994 to coordinate international response to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was later tasked with dealing with all crises in the former Yugoslav territories.

³ Zucconi, “The European Union in Former Yugoslavia”.

⁴ European Council, Conclusions on the principle of conditionality in relations with South East Europe.

⁵ Ibidem.

⁶ Cameron, “The EU and the Balkans”, 397.

⁷ Erler, “The Stability Pact”, 11.

⁸ See Südosteuropa Mitteilungen. Special issue, Five Years of the Stability Pact.

⁹ Presidency Conclusions, Feira European Council, 19 and 20 June 2000.

¹⁰ European Commission, CARDS Strategy Paper, 5.

¹¹ Ibidem.

¹² http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/key_documents/cards_reports_and_publications_en.htm

¹³ European Council, “The Thessaloniki Agenda for the Western Balkans”.

¹⁴ Commission of the European Communities, Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) (2008-2010).

¹⁵ http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/mipd_multibeneficiary_2007_2009_en.pdf

¹⁶ Bechev, “Carrots, sticks and norms”, 28.

¹⁷ Ibid.

¹⁸ ESI, “Breaking out of the Balkan Ghetto”.

¹⁹ Commission, IPA-Questions and answers. http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/questions_and_answers/assistance_ipa_en.htm

²⁰ Bechev, “Carrots, sticks and norms”, 41.

²¹ A. Mitic, “Too much Yugoslavia or too little EU”. Transitions on line, 6 February 2006.

²² Delevic, “Regional Cooperation in the Western Balkans”, 36.

²³ Ibid.

²⁴ Stability Pact, Background note for the signing of the CEFTA 2006.

²⁵ CEFTA was originally the umbrella for the (limited) trade liberalisation of the Visegrad countries (Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland laid the foundations in 1992-93), later joined by Slovenia (1996), Romania (1997), Bulgaria (1998), Croatia (2003) and Macedonia (2006). Kupandic, “CEFTA: Problems, Experiences”; Dangerfield, Subregional Economic Cooperation.

²⁶ E. Busek, Speech of the Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe at the signing of the agreement to amend and enlarge the Central European Free Trade Agreement, 19 December 2006, http://www.stabilitypact.org/pages/speeches/detail.asp?y=2006&p=470

²⁷ Delevic, “Regional Cooperation in the Western Balkans”, 63.

²⁸ Boromisa, “In Quest of Regional Ownership”.

²⁹ http://www.dppi.info/

³⁰ Blass, “Regional Parliamentary Cooperation and Ownership”.

³¹ Senior Review Group, Final Report.

³² Chairman's conclusions, Belgrade, 30 May 2006.

³³ Membership in the SEECP includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.

³⁴ Senior Review Group, Final Report.

³⁵ Stability Pact, Chairman's Conclusions of the Zagreb Regional Table, 10 May 2007.

³⁶ E. Busek, “Enter the Regional Cooperation Council”, Balkan Insight, 8 Oct. 2007, http://www.birn.eu.com

³⁷ EC Commission, Communication: Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2006-2007.