Integration or Disintegration?

The effect of EU conditionality has been largely§applauded in the §case of enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe§(CEE). Despite §limitations it largely helped the CEE countries§transform from §communist regimes to market economies and liberal§democracies. In §the case of the Western Balkans however, the§application of §conditionality has deviated from this ideal§functioning. This work §examines the case of Serbia where compliance has been§particularly §constrained. It focuses on cooperation with the§International §Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the§case of Kosovo, §and finds shortcomings §in both the EU s and Serbia s approach. On the one§hand, the EU has §failed to produce satisfactory initiatives to§encourage substantial §Serbian compliance. On the other hand, compliance is§stalled §because certain aspects of EU conditionality conflict§with the §collective understanding of Serbian national§identity. This two-sided §analysis draws on both rationalist and constructivist§arguments and §gives an in-depth account of Serbian Europeanization.§The work is §therefore useful both to scholars of European Studies§and scholars §of nationalism.