En fallstudie om EU:s normativa maktinflytande på kandidatlandet Serbien

Sammanfattning: This essay will examine the power influence of EU on the candidate country Serbia. Numerous of scientists have searched to understand what power influence EU has or should have. The widely accepted perception is that EU is a normative power. Scholar Ian Manners has designed the Normative Power Europe (NPE) theory based on research on previous EU impact on both EU countries and those outside the union. This study examines Manners’s theory of power on the candidate country of Serbia. To what degree can Manners’s NPE power be detected? By examining Manners’s theory by the three diffusions: informational, procedural and the cultural filter, the study will show that the EU is a normative force in Serbia with a high degree of influence. The high degree of influence is sourced mainly due to economic factors, but also Serbia's current position as a candidate country, and its own willingness to join the EU. The so called ''candidate-country status'' is one of the main factors for EU's major impact via the normative power channels. During the negotiation process with the EU the study shows that Serbia, as a candidate country, is extremely ''vulnerable '' while the EU is extraordinarily powerful and demanding. The asymmetrical role-play between the EU and Serbia is a significant positive factor as well as the determination Serbia shows to be a part of the EU, for EU’s normative power to be successfully practiced.