THE KEY CHALLENGES AND DILLEMAS OF THE EUROPEAN FOREIGN POLICY AND THE ENLARGEMENT PROCESS IN THE WESTERN BALKAN REGION

Abstract

The Western Balkans has long been a special concern for the EU. The wars in the former
Yugoslavia, throughout the 1990s provided the impetus for the creation of a Common Foreign
and Security Policy. On the other hand, when it comes to enhancing EU leadership through the
newly established EEAS there are some positive signs. Appropriately, it was in the Western
Balkans that the EEAS achieved a first meaningful success. In September, 2010, Serbia was
persuaded by the HR/VP (in cooperation with individual EU Member States) to agree to sponsor,
together with the EU, a joint UN General Assembly resolution that called for technical
negotiations between the governments in Belgrade and Pristina. This in turn kicked off the
Pristina-Belgrade dialogue, and has be seen as a testimony of an (initial) EEAS success. The
coordination, historically seen, between the Commission-driven enlargement agenda and the
Council-driven CFSP/CSDP has been minimal. Each of these institutions has long adhered to
their own structures, objectives, and chains of command. The current very challenging question
for debate is whether the Lisbon Treaty and the EEAS have been able to address these
inconsistencies. As it is generally known the Lisbon Treaty has introduced a new area in EU
external relations. The creation of the EU High Representative position, which doubles as a Vice
President of the European Commission, and of the European External Action Service, unveils the
EU’s intention to overcome the decades-old schisms between the Community-driven set of
external policies, on the one hand, and the Member State controlled CFSP/CSDP, on the other.
There is a growing awareness among Member States that the lack of coherence between its
policies and institutions inhibits the EU self-declared role as a global player in the world. For the

EU, it is of utmost importance to maintain positive momentum by resolving the current
stalemates through results-oriented decision-making by the EEAS, and the smart and efficient
coordination of various political and operational instruments and commitments, and for the
Western Balkan countries, there is a whole set of advantages envisaged in the short and longterm, particularly once the obstacle of membership is removed. This paper will elaborate the
impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the institutional structure of CFSP as well as the position and
competencies of the newly formed European External Action Service and how these
competencies will affect the countries from the Western Balkan region on their path to EU
integration.