External differentiation as a strategy of system maintenance
EU enlargement towards the Western Balkans
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6406629 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Maria Giulia Amadio Viceré (0000-0001-5462-5418, Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli), Matteo Bonomi (0000-0002-8189-2164, Istituto Affari Internazionali) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1159-1185 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-29 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | West European Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0140-2382 • E-ISSN: 1743-9655 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01402382.2024.2401298 |
| OpenAlex | W4402803464 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 42 |
Despite the stalling of enlargement countries’ accession to the EU, these countries have been recurrently involved in EU policies. There is, however, little knowledge about their participation in EU policies short of membership. This article conceptualises such participation as a manifestation of external differentiated cooperation. It offers a theoretical approach accounting for the unfolding of external differentiated cooperation in EU interactions with enlargement countries as a strategy of system maintenance. External differentiated cooperation, the article argues, serves as a strategy for the EU to address increased mutual dependences with enlargement countries triggered by crises-induced shocks to the EU system of regional integration. By examining EU-Western Balkans’ interactions from 2014 to 2023, the article shows that the EU and its relevant actors have resorted to external differentiated cooperation to ensure the functioning of the EU system of regional integration against the backdrop of member states’ reluctance towards EU enlargement
Business · Economic system · Economics · European union · International trade · Political science · Resizing · EU Law and Policy Analysis · European and International Law Studies · European Union Policy and Governance
The Politics of Europeanization
Process-Tracing Methods
Ever Looser Union?
The New Intergovernmentalism
The EU's Transformative Power
Causal Case Study Methods
The Politics of the Developing Areas
The Western Balkan counter-terrorism initiative (WBCTi) and the capability of the EU as a counter-terrorism actor
Concentric circles of flexible ‘EUropean’ integration
Differentiated cooperation as the mode of governance in EU foreign policy
National Interests, State Power, and EU Enlargement
Creeping EU Membership in South‐east Europe
The roles of the President of the European Council and the High Representative in leading EU foreign policy on Kosovo
Rebordering Europe
EU external governance in 'wider Europe
Differentiated Integration in the European Union
EU rules beyond EU borders
How does Europeanization affect CEE governance? Conditionality, diffusion and diversity
Differentiated Integration in Europe
The Community Trap
The EU and member state building – European foreign policy in the Western Balkans
Enlargement, Institution-Building and the EU's Administrative Capacity Requirement
Walking the road together? EU polity maintenance during the Covid-19 crisis
External differentiated integration
Modes of external governance
The external face of differentiated integration
Money, power, glory
Models of external differentiation in the EU's neighbourhood
Theorizing EU enlargement
The Changing Discourses of EU Enlargement
From Cohesion to Contagion? Populist Radical Right Contestation of EU Enlargement
Why Expand
Europeanisation and conflict networks
EU enlargement and the challenge of policy transfer
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |