Conference Paper

The Lisbon Treaty establishes a unified normative structure, codifying the values and goals of the EU and the means for their promotion. While falling short of the ambitions of the Treaty on the Constitution from a normative viewpoint, the Lisbon Treaty has introduced a more consolidated normative structure, including an institutional framework for the global projection of its normative power. EU normative principles have been particularly important in the EU’s eastern enlargement and have been “exported” to candidate countries through the conditionality policy based on the Copenhagen criteria. When it comes to the Western Balkans, these criteria have been embedded in the stabilization and association process (SAP). However, the SAP entails a stronger and stricter conditionality framework, which has been the basis for tougher normative pressure from the EU on the Western Balkans countries. This influence has been particularly strong in terms of political criteria, even including conditions beyond the scope of mirroring the EU’s own normative framework. This paper explores how and to what extent the EU “exports” its fundamental normative principles to the Western Balkans through the main mechanisms of the SAP. We compare the norms promoted within the SAP to the EU normative principles instituted in the Lisbon Treaty. Exploring the prevailing patterns of norm diffusion and acceptance by candidate countries leads to a deeper understanding of the key challenges and issues of the integration process. Furthermore, we consider the potential of the EU normative structure, strengthened by the Lisbon Treaty, to promote policy change in a sustainable process of Europeanization of the Western Balkans.