If one was asked this question, the answer appears to have been answered already: no, there can be no sustainable peace in Europe without the future enlargement, there can be no stability in Europe without the Western Balkans. But, with popular anxiety over further enlargements on the rise and with the unexpected difficulties facing the Union as it endeavours to reform its institutions, it is worth asking ourselves what is at stake, and why it is so important that the Western Balkans countries not be “left behind” in the European integration process.

After the accession of Bulgaria and Romania on 1 January 2007, ensuring the success of the enlargement process has become one of the EU’s major political priorities. And indeed, the very essence of European integration is to overcome the division of Europe and to contribute to the peaceful unification of the continent. The Western Balkans region is essential to the EU’s security and peace project. We have, on the one hand, a European Union built on peace and the reconciliation of its citizens; on the other hand, we have a region known to history as “Europe’s powder keg”.

We can say that the EU’s external policy began in the Balkans. The EU’s failure to maintain and then re-establish peace in the countries inherited from Tito’s Yugoslavia determined its will to head towards a common external policy also supported by military means. Significantly, the EU’s first ESDP missions were held in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The idea that Europe should have the ambition to preserve peace not only within its territory but beyond its borders is therefore tightly linked to the conviction gained during the 1990s that war in the Balkans challenges the EU’s core values and political project. Thus, guaranteeing stability at its borders and the propagation of its model of peace and reconciliation became one of the main pillars of the EU’s external policy.

That is why enlargement is now considered to be one of the EU’s most powerful policy tools. With the twelve new Member States of the 2004/2007 waves of enlargement being mainly from the former Eastern bloc, the recent enlargement can be considered the ultimate reconciliation of a Europe deeply divided by the Cold War. Today it seems natural to most observers that the instrument of EU integration should be used to consolidate and guarantee. That is why the EU renewed its commitment to the eventual integration of all the Balkan states into the European Union. And the process has already begun: Slovenia became a Member State in 2004, Romania and Bulgaria in 2007, Croatia is presently negotiating for its accession, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was granted the status of candidate country in 2005.

But accession to the EU is not a magic word that will solve all problems and bring peace and stability by itself. The EU integrates partners which are institutionally functional, economically viable, and able to cooperate with their neighbours on a regional scale. More remains to be done to address fundamental issues, such as state-building, rule of law, administrative and judicial reform, and to fight corruption and organised crime. It is clear that each country will be judged on its own merits; the pace of the candidate and potential candidate countries’ EU accession primarily depends upon the outcome of the reform processes in each country.

In a word, enlargement does not only entail the accession of new states to the EU; it is the whole process leading to accession that brings stability, economic and social development. This would be beneficial both to the peoples of the Western Balkans and to the European Union. Indeed, there are core values that these countries share and which the EU would benefit from. We can also observe tremendous energy and entrepreneurial spirit, as well as great cultural, religious and linguistic diversity that are of inestimable value.

The European Union has already given a clear answer to the question we are attempting to answer: the Western Balkans’ future lies within the European Union. This is a fundamental issue both for the democratic and stable development of the countries in the process of accession, and for the security of the European Union itself. Though the answer has already been given, asking this question reminds the EU, and every partner country, of our common responsibilities. We should be aware that a great deal is at stake as regards enlargement. Today especially, we should keep in mind that finding a solution to the concrete problems that is facing this region is crucial for the whole of Europe.

Branislav Stanicek is Administrator at the Committee of the Regions of the EU

 The views expressed herein are the personal views of the author

and are not intended to reflect the views of any EU institution