Assessing the performance of the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe and in its neighbourhood

Abstract

More than a decade after the big bang enlargement, it seems that the European Union (EU) and its Central and Eastern European member-states have mutually adapted to one another. The debates regarding the historical implications of enlargement have now reduced in tempo and much of Eastern Europe seems to be an integral part of the European integration project. After the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 (and Croatia in 2013), and in light of the EU's internal troubles, enlargement has been sidelined from the EU agenda. The issue of the EU's performance in the "wider Eastern Europe" remains poignant, not least because of current developments in its "neighbourhood" (such as the crisis in Ukraine or Moldova's downturn from success story to a captured state), the uneven pattern of reform across some of the recently admitted states (such as the turmoil in Hungary and Poland or the ongoing monitoring of Bulgaria and Romania in the area of rule of law), and the evident slow pace of progress and even back-sliding in parts of the Western Balkans (e.g. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia). These cases, inter alia, illustrate that the EU's performance in the area is neither linear nor uncontested. Thus, questions regarding EU performance reoccur frequently and very often, its "transformative power" can be called into question. What determines EU performance in Central and Eastern Europe and in its Neighbourhood? What are the conditions that influence it? This collective inquiry addresses some of these questions. Much of the EU's own discourse puts emphasis on "performance" as a key driver of its policies and engagement with its partners (

Effects of Soft Loans and Credit Guarantees on Performance of Supported Firms: Evidence from the Czech Public Programme START

“…Most of the recent studies in the Central and Eastern European region have been focused on the evaluation of cohesion R&D policies and those aimed at the elimination of the regional disparities, e.g., [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70], policies facilitating trainings and education [71,72] and effectivity of the self-employment programmes for the unemployed [73][74][75]. However, based on a search in the databases of previously published academic articles and research reports, no study has been focused on the evaluation of entrepreneurship support through the financial instruments yet.…”

Möjligheter och begränsningar för EU:s aktörskap i södra Kaukasus

“…Det konstaterades därför, i meddelandet som presenterade översynen av ENP, att det fanns »gränser för EU:s inflytande», och att grannskapspolitiken inte hade varit lockande för länderna som inte hade gjort det utrikespolitiska valet att närma sig EU (Europeiska kommissionen, 2015, s. 2). Implementeringen av EU:s principer och normer var ofta selektiv (Bolkvadze, 2016) eller ojämn (Papadimitriou, Baltag & Surubar, 2017). Mer fokus skulle därför läggas på differentiering (att partnerländerna skulle välja den samarbetsform som passade dem bättre) och egenansvar (beträffande efterlevnad av de EU-normer dessa anammat).…”

EU normative performance: a critical theory perspective on the EU’s response to the massacre in Andijon, Uzbekistan

“…The process-related measures of Normative Performance presented above do not concern the effectiveness of EU decision-making procedures or the "capabilities and mechanisms" used by the EU in order to pursue its stated objective (Papadimitriou, Baltag, and Surubaru 2017). Rather, EU normative process performance measures the openness, fairness and "truthfulness" of the processes through which the EU arrives at decisions on arms exports policy.…”

“…"EU Normative Performance"a new concept which I am introducing in this article -complements the notion of EU Performance presented in this Special Issue. EU Performance as defined by Papadimitriou, Baltag, and Surubaru (2017) is broadly based on what Robert Cox famously termed "problem-solving theory" (Cox 1981, 128-129). In contrast, my concept of EU Normative Performance is inspired by critical theory and the writings of sociologist Jürgen Habermas.…”