Explaining the negotiation processes on the accession of Albania and Turkey to the European Union
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2018-11-19
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en
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Abstract
The expansion of the European Union towards Eastern Europe during the 2000s has been a much-covered subject in academic research, likely because of the many controversies that rose among both the public and the political sphere. However, future enlargement of the EU could prove more controversial with the accession of countries with a predominantly Islamic background: Turkey and Albania. However, while the accession negotiations with Turkey between 2004 and 2016 could be characterized as a ‘bumpy road,’ the accession negotiations with Albania during the same period seem to have progressed relatively smoothly. This thesis seeks to explain these different paces by projecting the theoretical assumptions of neofunctionalism (NF), liberal intergovernmentalism (LI) and constructivism onto each negotiation process, focusing on the EU side of the negotiations. These theoretical perspectives are approached as being potentially complementary rather than inherently conflicting with one another. Using process tracing, the two negotiation processes are analysed and then assessed through the lenses of the theoretical framework. This thesis argues that NF’s concepts of political and cultivated spill-over, in addition to LI’s perspective on national leaders’ re-election calculations provide an explanation of the different paces to some degree, while additional research is needed to delve deeper into the exact mechanisms in which these aspects play a role. In addition, this thesis argues that further research is needed to expand the academic literature on Albania-EU relations.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen