EU’s revised enlargement methodology: Emperor’s new clothes as the new iron curtain falls in Europe

Abstract

The nature of the European Union (EU) as a global actor has long been the subject of academic debate. Proponents of understanding the EU as a normative, civilian force agree that its greatest transformative power lies in its enlargement policy, which allows it to shape reforms in countries that wish to become its members through strong conditioning. It is in this context that we will analyse the new methodology of accession negotiations, with the basic premise that it represents a debatable attempt of the EU to preserve its transformative power in relation to candidate countries despite the crisis of the enlargement policy and to further strengthen the already strong mechanisms of conditionality that accompany this process. Two years have passed since the new methodology was adopted, yet there have been no significant changes. Meanwhile, the dramatic change in the geopolitical situation, caused by the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022, has led to a sudden fall of the new Iron Curtain on the continent, creating additional controversies regarding the enlargement policy: Will it apply also to Eastern European countries in the future, and will it become part of a differentiated integration? Also, the question of whether the EU can act strategically towards establishing new relations in Europe is being raised once again.