The transformative power of EU: an assessment of EU impact in the judicial system of Kosovo

In the process of EU integration, the aspiring candidate and potential candidate countries have undergone a major process of reforms. The Central European Countries accession process has been analyzed in details, using both rationalist and constructivist models. However, the South European Countries, in general, and Western Balkan countries, in particular, have a lot to be critically analyzed, studied and understood.  Nevertheless, the purpose of this paper is not to analyze all Western Balkan countries, but to focus only on Kosovo, namely to study its judicial system. In this regard, to what extent the EU has had transformative power and impacted the internal judicial structures of Kosovo and under which conditions the EU is more effective? This article analyzes the findings of the Progress reports for a ten-year period (2005 – 2015) and the extent of the EU impact. It makes use of the conceptual and rational framework of external incentives model and argues that the EU impact in the judiciary system of Kosovo was crucial and transformative considering the starting low phase of reforms in Kosovo.