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‘Pre‐Accession Europeanization’: The Case of Serbia and Kosovo
Author(s) -
Economides Spyros,
KerLindsay James
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
jcms: journal of common market studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.54
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1468-5965
pISSN - 0021-9886
DOI - 10.1111/jcms.12238
Subject(s) - accession , normalization (sociology) , political science , normative , politics , political economy , confusion , negotiation , pragmatism , law and economics , positive economics , economic system , european union , sociology , law , economics , epistemology , social science , international trade , psychology , psychoanalysis , philosophy
This article argues that there is much confusion surrounding Serbia's landmark decision to engage in a process of normalization with Kosovo. Rather than undergoing a process of Europeanization, whereby a fundamental transformation in the underlying rationale and processes of decision‐making occurred, as some have argued, the changes in Serbia's policy are in fact based on material concerns. By tracing relations in the EU‐Serbia‐Kosovo triangle, the article shows that change in Serbia's approach towards Kosovo is based on pragmatism and political opportunism, rather than absorption, adaptation, convergence or identity formation. What we have witnessed is a more short‐term, interest based policy shift serving very specific economic purposes. In conceptual terms, this is better understood as a policy of rationally instrumental ‘pre‐Accession Europeanization’ rather than as a process of adaptive normative Europeanization as more conventionally understood in the literature.