On 28 November 2018, in the framework of the current Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the European Policy Centre – CEP hosted a conference under the name “European Union and the Western Balkans: How to make the enlargement process more credible?”. The event was part of the Western Balkans Reflection Forum Initiative, launched by a network of European think tanks in support of the Berlin Process

The overall aim of this Insight is to encourage further discussions on what lies ahead for the Balkans in the post-Brexit Europe

During the past few years, the EU system of fundamental values has been under threat due to the rise of illiberal democracies, most notably Hungary and Poland. The tool which the EU has under its disposal to tackle such threat is the so-called ‘Nuclear Option’ specified in Article 7 of the Treaty on EU.

It, however, seems that the wider public is not fully aware how the procedure under Article 7 is supposed to function in practice, due to its complexity. Hence, the goal of this infographic is to explain what does Article 7 stand for and present the process of activating it, by providing a step-by-step illustration. Furthermore, the infographic shows what have been the issues of concerns in Hungary and Poland, as well as the current status of Article 7 procedure in those countries.

All across the EU, it has become quite common to label the modus operandi of the EU as ineffective, its institutional set-up as undemocratic and its politics as far removed from European citizens. 

While Bulgaria has recognised providing a clear European perspective for the WB countries as its first priority, Estonia has rather kept its centre of interest and activities on the Digital Single Market, while omitting enlargement from its top priorities; as for Austria, it is expected that it will direct its attention mostly on the issues of immigration and security, while simultaneously aiding the EU perspective of the region.

The enlargement of the European Union to the Western Balkans is still an uncertainty, fifteen years after the countries of the region were promised a European perspective at the 2003 Thessaloniki Summit.

The space for civil society contribution has been gradually shrinking across the Western Balkans, making it harder for civil society organisations to actively take part in the policymaking process in their home countries.

In 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, while in 2017, it triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which sets the two-year timeframe for settling the divorce between the two. As no EU member state has withdrawn from the Union ever before, the negotiations have seen numerous challenges and unpredictable hurdles. What are the key issues of the negotiations? How have the negotiations developed so far? What happens after the negotiations are over? CEP’s new infographic provides illustrated answers to these questions.

It is our immense pleasure to share with you a collection of articles produced within the project Raising capacities and advocacy potential towards more substantive involvement of CSOs of V4 and WB6.

2018 Assessment by the European Commission, which analyzes the results achieved between October 2016 and February 2018.