Transnational Learning and Civil Society Empowerment in the EU Enlargement Process

Abstract

Strengthening civil society as a domestic safeguard against the backsliding of reforms is a cornerstone of the EU enlargement process. Support provided by the EU, however, was shown to have had limited effects in triggering civil society empowerment in candidate countries. Adopting a novel perspective, this article demonstrates that the diffusion of mobilization formats, via transnational learning between activists from different enlargement rounds, facilitated the empowerment of non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) in countries joining later. Drawing on comparative evidence from Serbia and Montenegro, it shows how such transfers of external models enabled NGOs to feed into the ongoing membership talks. Their influence over substantive outcomes, however, was limited by a lack of domestic responsiveness, while funding availability constrained the operation of the transferred formats. These findings shed light on an overlooked dimension of learning in the context of Europeanization and feed into the debate on civil society empowerment in enlargement countries.

AB'nin Türkiye'deki Sivil Toplum Örgütlerine Finansal Desteği: Gezi Süreci Sonrası Siyasi Alanın Daralması mı?

“…The EU's strengthening civil society policy in the enlargement round was designed for the candidates states to fulfil the Copenhagen criteria, "which required aspirant states to have stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for minorities, a functioning market economy and the ability to take on the obligations of EU law" (İçduygu, 2011: 381). In all progress reports, European Commission encourages civil society organisations (CSOs) to get professionalized and increase formal interactions with state actors (Wunsch, 2018). That is, the EU's financial support to CSOs with the aim of fostering a democracy from below also pushes for a new model of active citizenship in the Union's neighbourhood and third country policies.…”