Whose Rule, Whose Law? Contested Statehood, External Leverage and the European Union's Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo*

Abstract

The article discusses the projection of European Union (EU) power under conditions of contested statehood in its ‘near abroad’. Using the EU's mission in Kosovo (EULEX) as a case study, the article unpacks the various levers of external EU influence and explores the conditions under which European policy‐makers become entangled in the ‘existential discourse’ of highly polarized societies with competing statehood claims. The contestation of these claims (both domestically and internationally) produces significant challenges for EU actorness, affecting both self‐ascribed (internal to the EU) and external (amongst the EU's interlocutors) aspects of EU presence, which, in turn, shapes the EU's ability to deploy and co‐ordinate its capabilities on the ground. It is by reference to this ‘presence–capabilities’ nexus that this article seeks to conceptualize the limitations of the planning and early deployment of EULEX in Kosovo.

Strengthening the Rule of Law at the Supranational Level: The Rise and Consolidation of a European Network

“…While considerable attention has been paid to the impact of the EU on the beneficiary countries (Coman 2009;Borzel and Risse 2012;Noutcheva 2009;Noutcheva and Aydin Duzgit 2012;Papadimitriou and Petrov 2012;Noutcheva, Pomorska, and Bosse 2013), the effects of its action on the power of supranational institutions has remained underexplored. Heidbreder proposed a conceptualization of this process, arguing that the involvement of the European Commission in the rule of law promotion in the enlargement context has given rise to 'new policy-making capacities without creating new formal powers of the EU' (2011,22).…”

Local contestation against the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo

“…The formal status neutral mandate was not enough to convince the Kosovo Serbs, nor was the decision of the Government of Serbia to actually accept EULEX's deployment (Papadimitriou & Petrov, 2012). This can be linked to two factors.…”

The journey from global to local: norm promotion, contestation and localisation in post-war Kosovo

“…17). Until today, the legitimacy of the Kosovo state, those who govern, state borders and insignia of statehood continue to be contested by Kosovo Serbs (Papadimitriou and Petrov 2012). These competing conflict goals continue to enjoy support among Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs, and permeate into discourses on the 'local meaning' of international norms.…”

“…Kosovo is characterised by such deep polarisation between the former conflict parties, stemming from wartime cleavages between ethnic Albanians and ethnic Serbs (Franks and Richmond 2008;Ramet 2010;Papadimitriou and Petrov 2012). The experience and/or threat of violence forced individuals to take sides during the war and produced long-lasting splits in the community.…”