Enlargement as milieu governance in the Western Balkans

This chapter assesses the European Union's (EU) efforts to shape the Western Balkans milieu through its enlargement policy, focusing on regional stabilization, economic prosperity, and norm diffusion since 1990. EU enlargement policy in this region is a significant case study for understanding the challenges of governance extension to post-conflict territories and the evolution of EU milieu governance. Despite the EU's failure to expand its membership beyond Croatia, its enlargement policy has played a significant role by providing the framework for developing diverse practices of external cooperation between the EU and the Western Balkan countries and by extending the EU's zone of governance. EU enlargement policies in this region have revealed a number of shortcomings, notably the chronic lack of efficiency and accountability of the EU enlargement policy framework, that constitute a threat to creating an effective and sustainable path to enlargement and that jeopardize the EU's future regional role.