ΠΜΣ Σπουδές Νοτιοανατολικής Ευρώπης
Library of the Faculties of Political Science and Public Administration, Communication and Mass Media Studies, Turkish and Modern Asian Studies, Sociology

2014-03-24

2013

Babeanu Alina

Susannah Verney. Τμήμα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Δημόσιας Διοίκησης. ΕΚΠΑ

Democratization through EU integration: the case of Romania.

English

After the collapse of the Communist regime in December 1989, Romania embarked on the road to Euro-Atlantic integration which became the main goal of its external policy for many years to come. The major shift seen as the rightful and desired "return to Europe" would prove a challenging and most of the time daunting task for both Romania and its Western partners. As in the case of other fromer communist countries, the European integration process was to accompany and assist the internal democratization efforts of this country. Moreover, EU offered to Romania a path to modernity, an axiological referential to which there was no alternative choice. That's why, in Romania's case, European integration has to be seen first and foremost as a modernization process. Thies study will trace Romania's record of compliance with EU democratic standards at different stages of the accession process and afterwards, given that the principle of conditionality played a central role in the promotion of reform in Central and Eastern Europe countries (CEEs). Furthermore, it will try to prove that the conditionality-driven approach in the case of Romania's EU accession while not bearing the desired fruits had nevertheless a significant impact on the domestic democratization process, when taking into country. Therefore, the essay will aim at proving a working hypothesis, according to which the European integration process made a significant contribution to the democratization of Romania, despite its obvious flows and setbacks.
The study will focus on two main directions: one seeking to access the consolidation of the current political regime in Romania from the perspective of the democratization pradigm and the other to understand these domestic developments in connection with the European integration process. The aim is to evaluate the theoretical and actual degree of accumulation and embeddedness of the features of political democracy in Romania, as well as the practical role the EU had along this road. The paper will endeavour to offer a diachronic perspective, looking at Romania's democratic performance both in the pre-and post-accession periods. This paper will show that Romania's accession to the EU back in 2007 was obviously not the exclusive result of its preparedness to join, but rahter a consequence of "reasons reflecting interalia geopolitical and strategic considerations". Looking into perspective, the Romanian case will have as a consequence a qualitative increase in standards to be fullfilled by the countries aspiring to EU membership and an attempt from the EU to strengthen its instruments o control and influence in the enlargement process, having as a predictable corollary the prolongation of accession periods.

Social, Political and Economic sciences

Democratization,
Europeanization,
EU enlargement,
political conditionality,
Romania

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https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/1333470