EU:s intentioner till en utvidgning av unionen: En teoriprövande fallstudie av EU:s utvidgningsstrategi på västra Balkan

Sammanfattning: In recent years, the idea of the EU and membership of the union is meeting growing resistance across Europe. This despite the fact that the multi billion EU apparatus is gaining influence in new geographical areas, is becoming a more integrated institution and, most recently, having a strong influence on the member states’ Covid-19 vaccine policy. This paper seeks to explain the unions’ expanding ambitions through both a Neorealistic perspective as well as through the theory of Normative Power Europe. We have chosen to focus on how the EUs’ expanding ambitions on the western Balkans can be viewed through these perspectives. To achieve this, we analyze the EU Commissions’ strategy documents; “A credible enlargement perspective for and enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans” and “Strategi för utvidgningen och huvudfrågor 2014-15”. By studying the Commissions’ expansion strategies towards the western Balkans from the different perspectives of the chosen theories’ thesis and assumptions, the paper provides insights into the strategy. The Neorealistic perspective of prosperity through security and common defense efforts can be found in both documents. Meanwhile, from the perspective of the Normative Power Europe theory, both documents address the spectrum of soft values such as institutionalism, human rights and equality. The latter theory is somewhat more applicable due to its being a theory developed specifically for EU matters.