European Union Influence on Institutional Lock-In in the Countries in Transition

20 Pages Posted: 1 Jan 2010

See all articles by Miroslav Beblavy

Miroslav Beblavy

Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)

Date Written: January 1, 2010

Abstract

This paper explores implications of the EU accession process for consolidation of institutions important for sustainable economic growth in the states aspiring to be EU members. Much of its attention concentrates on the 10 member states from Central and Eastern Europe that have already joined the Union, but the Western Balkans countries also receive attention as they have been on the path towards the membership for some time. The core of the paper consists of three case studies illustrating both the EU influence and its limits and reversals. The first one looks at state aid and competition policies – an area where the EU exercises substantial influence already prior to a country’s accession and where the member states have to respect a dominant role of the European Commission. The next case study contrasts this with the issue of central bank independence, where the accession and membership are crucial, but also that the EU can act to, at the same time, support consolidation of bank autonomy and provide an opportunity to undermine it. The third case looks at EU attempts to mandate civil service reforms in the acceding countries, particularly creation of independent regulators and creation of clear demarcation lines between political and administrative level. In the absence of anchoring in the community legal framework, initial success in the pre-accession periods has been followed by significant backsliding after the membership was achieved. Overall, the conclusion is that the EU influence on institutional design and consolidation for countries aspiring to membership has been powerful when the Union chose to make an issue a priority one, be it because of its own legal framework for its own members (competition, central banking) or as a specific priority vis-à-vis future members (administrative capacity). However, the paper also showed that when the priority is not anchored in firm legal framework and not applied consistently for all existing members, the sustainability is threatened and the membership can easily bring backsliding. Therefore, the value of the Union as an agent of institutional consolidation appears to be precisely in the indefinite and rules-bound aspect of the EU membership. Where the EU accession is a distant and uncertain prospect (e.g. Caucasus, Moldova, Ukraine), the EU’s attempt to use conditionality without explicit promise of membership have, so far, not been successful in achieving its objective.

Suggested Citation

Beblavy, Miroslav, European Union Influence on Institutional Lock-In in the Countries in Transition (January 1, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1530283 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1530283

Miroslav Beblavy (Contact Author)

Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) ( email )

1 Place du Congres
Brussels, 1000
Belgium

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
95
Abstract Views
621
Rank
495,965
PlumX Metrics