Research Papers

Research on the Eastern enlargement of the European Union has highlighted the difficulties in analysing the role of EU conditionality in non-acquis related issues such as minority policies. In the study of this accession process the minority condition is considered to be problematic both because of the lack of a unified approach at the EU level and the differentiated approach in the candidate countries. In the Western Balkan countries that are in the queue for EU enlargement, the European Commission has introduced new elements in the conditionality mechanism with the purpose of stipulating clear benchmarks and monitoring in non-acquis areas. The most evident example of this policy shift is the introduction of the new “chapter” in the EU negotiations dealing with judiciary and fundamental rights and the visa liberalisation roadmaps. This paper will examine how these new instruments of EU conditionality deal with minority policies in the cases of Croatia and Macedonia. The selection of countries is linked to the specificity of the issues analysed. Croatia, namely is the first and only country to negotiate this new chapter. Macedonia, on the other hand, has traditionally cooperated with the EU in relation to minority policies and was the most advanced country in the visa liberalisation dialogue. Hence, both countries are instructive for the analysis of the success of the new approach of the EU in relation to minority policies conditionality.