Start Date
4-12-2019 11:55 AM
End Date
4-12-2019 12:10 PM
Description
The collapse of Yugoslavia resulted in tremendous conflicts across Western Balkans territories. Since the mid 2000s, the EU has become a key security and stability provider in these countries in order to help in the process of reconciliation and prosperity, while also offering annexation to the EU, upon the condition of the fulfillment of basic criteria. Hence, in 2005 the EU's relations with the Western Balkans states and territories transformed from the "External Relations" to the "Enlargement" policy segment. As of 2015, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia are officially recognized as state candidates for membership, whereas Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina are now potential candidates. Specifically, with the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Kosovo, the EU closes the circle of such agreements with all states of the Western Balkans. Considering that the accession of Kosovo to the European Union is finally part of the future enlargement agenda of the EU much has been done on the side of Kosovo towards this direction with the expectation to fulfill all needed criteria. Hence, the aim of this paper is to briefly analyze Kosovo’s path towards joining the EU, with a special focus on the implementation of the SAA, ERA and IPA, and an overall scrutiny upon the differences of SAA’s of the aforementioned states. The paper is mainly written based on secondary sources and data gathered from the Government of Kosovo.
Chair
Iakovos Iakovidis
Discussant
Matteo Capasso & Igor Rogeljia
Session Type
Panel 2
Stabilization and Association Agreement Between Kosovo and the European Union
The collapse of Yugoslavia resulted in tremendous conflicts across Western Balkans territories. Since the mid 2000s, the EU has become a key security and stability provider in these countries in order to help in the process of reconciliation and prosperity, while also offering annexation to the EU, upon the condition of the fulfillment of basic criteria. Hence, in 2005 the EU's relations with the Western Balkans states and territories transformed from the "External Relations" to the "Enlargement" policy segment. As of 2015, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia are officially recognized as state candidates for membership, whereas Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina are now potential candidates. Specifically, with the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Kosovo, the EU closes the circle of such agreements with all states of the Western Balkans. Considering that the accession of Kosovo to the European Union is finally part of the future enlargement agenda of the EU much has been done on the side of Kosovo towards this direction with the expectation to fulfill all needed criteria. Hence, the aim of this paper is to briefly analyze Kosovo’s path towards joining the EU, with a special focus on the implementation of the SAA, ERA and IPA, and an overall scrutiny upon the differences of SAA’s of the aforementioned states. The paper is mainly written based on secondary sources and data gathered from the Government of Kosovo.
