1. The European Union as a Reforming Power in the Western Balkans: The Case of Albania
- Author:
- Klodiana Beshku and Orjana Mullisi
- Publication Date:
- 11-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
- Institution:
- Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
- Abstract:
- This paper tries to further elaborate one of the most important external powers of the European Union: Its “reforming power” which goes in parallel with its ability as “normative actor” in the Western Balkans. Through Albania as a case study, it tries to argue that the process of Albania’s integration to the EU has transformed the country in several directions: by introducing a deep juridical reform and by the full alignment of its foreign policy with CFSP and the “regional cooperation”. In fact, under the auspices of the EU integration, the country is making all the efforts to deliver on one of the most transformative reforms undertaken in the region, that of the justice system. This gives to EU the features of a “reforming power”. The term shows the EU as a driving force which makes countries undertake deep reforms they would not have differently realized, if not under the conditionality for the EU integration.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation, Reform, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Albania