EUROPEAN VALUES AS A UNITING FORCE IN SOUTH-EAST EUROPE

EUROPEAN VALUES Democracy Peace Rule of law Cooperation Constitutional prerequisites

THE MEANS Integration (a process of uniting dissimilar parts) Integration theory aims at describing & explaining the process of unifying sovereign nation-states. Establishing common institutions (positive integration)

Defining Integration Integration is defined in terms of goals & the processes adopted with the aim of “attaining within a territory, of a sense of community & of institutions and practices strong enough & widespread enough to assure for a long time dependable expectations of peaceful change among its population”

Integration Equation Integration = sense of community + common institutions + pooling of sovereignty

THE AIM The establishment of a community of states The establishment of a community of interests

WHU VALUES MATTER In conformity with the EU’s international role and actor status The EU has adopted “civilian forms of influence and action” (no hard power)

A NORMATIVE ROLE “the consolidation of the rule of law and respect for human rights, as well as the preservation of peace & the strengthening of international security, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and as provided for in Article 11 of the EU Treaty, are of fundamental importance to, and a priority for, the Union”

ENLARGEMENT “Enlargement will eventually produce a larger and stronger Union capable of mobilizing resources for a global policy, since most of Europe’s problems will be settled because enlargement is in itself a foreign policy tool”

ENLARGEMENT AND VALUES Homogenizing process A process of state socialization A process of changing views, attitudes, values, mode of interaction A new national value system

PROBLEMS Values are nominally universal in a de-centralized sovereign state environment National interests Institutional dys-functionalities Nationalism

SOUTH-EAST EUROPE Zero-sum games Clashing nationalisms Conflicting past Traumatic historical experiences

VALUES AND ELITES The elites as a socializing force The elites as agents of social changes The elites as agents of cognitive biases