Review article
https://doi.org/10.20901/an.23.07
Internal and External Causes Behind the Stagnation of the European Union’s Enlargement Policy
Lea Fabić
; Institute for Development and International Relations, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The European Union’s enlargement policy has for many years been considered one of the most successful tools of the Union’s external action. However, it appears that this policy has been stagnating for quite some time. The state of the enlargement policy cannot be adequately understood through a one-sided analysis of the factors contributing to its stagnation. This paper therefore answers the following research question: How does the interplay between the European Union’s internal political and institutional factors and external geopolitical circumstances affect the effectiveness of the enlargement policy? It analyses the impact of macro-structural characteristics, the institutional framework of the Union, and the heterogeneous perspectives of existing member states on enlargement policy, within the context of the structure–agency debate proposed by critical integration theory. The enlargement policy has predominantly been examined through the analysis of the relationship between the European Union and candidate countries. This paper, however, analyses the broader picture of the prolonged stagnation of the enlargement policy. Its aim is to provide a comprehensive explanation of the policy’s stagnation in order to contribute to a better understanding of the complex process that shapes the development of European integration and future enlargements.
Keywords
European Union enlargement policy; stagnation; crisis; critical integration theory
Hrčak ID:
352132
URI
Publication date:
14.10.2026.
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