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New kids on the block

Ovesson, Erik LU (2024) STVM25 20241
Department of Political Science
Abstract (Swedish)
To become a member of the European Union, the applicant country must meet the accession criteria established in the Copenhagen Declaration, commonly referred to as the Copenhagen criteria. While these criteria serve as formal guidelines, previous research has shown that they alone cannot explain when and how a country will join the union. Instead, it is argued that the justification and discursive framing of enlargement exert a more substantial influence on the trajectory of a country's accession process. This study aims to compare how the EU has justified the accession trajectories of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Moldova. While Moldova has been able to initiate the process of starting accession negotiations in less than two years,... (More)
To become a member of the European Union, the applicant country must meet the accession criteria established in the Copenhagen Declaration, commonly referred to as the Copenhagen criteria. While these criteria serve as formal guidelines, previous research has shown that they alone cannot explain when and how a country will join the union. Instead, it is argued that the justification and discursive framing of enlargement exert a more substantial influence on the trajectory of a country's accession process. This study aims to compare how the EU has justified the accession trajectories of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Moldova. While Moldova has been able to initiate the process of starting accession negotiations in less than two years, Bosnia-Herzegovina, after eight years, still waits for the same decision. This is despite the fact that the countries do not differ when it comes to meeting the Copenhagen criteria or have fulfilled the requirements set by the EU when they applied for membership. By constructing a theoretical framework based upon instrumentalism, identity and morality, and analyzing the discourse manifested in the language used by the EU, this essay concludes that a combination of perceived urgency to act in solidarity and a perception that Moldova belong to the EU’s family have justified a more quicker accession path for Moldova. (Less)
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author
Ovesson, Erik LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Om hur EU har rättfärdigat Bosnien-Hercegovinas och Moldaviens respektive anslutningsprocesser
course
STVM25 20241
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
EU:s utvidgning, identiet, moral, instrumentalism, geopolitik, diskursanalys
language
Swedish
id
9152950
date added to LUP
2024-07-18 14:02:07
date last changed
2024-07-18 14:02:07
@misc{9152950,
  abstract     = {{To become a member of the European Union, the applicant country must meet the accession criteria established in the Copenhagen Declaration, commonly referred to as the Copenhagen criteria. While these criteria serve as formal guidelines, previous research has shown that they alone cannot explain when and how a country will join the union. Instead, it is argued that the justification and discursive framing of enlargement exert a more substantial influence on the trajectory of a country's accession process. This study aims to compare how the EU has justified the accession trajectories of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Moldova. While Moldova has been able to initiate the process of starting accession negotiations in less than two years, Bosnia-Herzegovina, after eight years, still waits for the same decision. This is despite the fact that the countries do not differ when it comes to meeting the Copenhagen criteria or have fulfilled the requirements set by the EU when they applied for membership. By constructing a theoretical framework based upon instrumentalism, identity and morality, and analyzing the discourse manifested in the language used by the EU, this essay concludes that a combination of perceived urgency to act in solidarity and a perception that Moldova belong to the EU’s family have justified a more quicker accession path for Moldova.}},
  author       = {{Ovesson, Erik}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{New kids on the block}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}