THE CASE OF THE WESTERN BALKAN ROMA: A LITMUS TEST FOR NORMATIVE POWER EUROPE?

Year 2017, Volume: 35 Issue: 1, 41 - 65, 31.03.2017

Murat Önsoy , Zeynep Arkan Tuncel

https://doi.org/10.17065/huniibf.303304

Cited By: 2

Abstract

Viewed
increasingly as a ‘normative’ power, the European Union has come to dictate
what is regarded as ‘normal’ or ethically superior behaviour and standards not
only in its domestic realm, but also in its neighbourhood and beyond. This
ideational dimension of the European Union’s foreign policy is most apparent in
enlargement policy, its most successful foreign policy tool to date. This
article argues that the European Union’s ‘normative power’ is being tested in
its enlargement policy towards the Western Balkans and analyses the extent of
this challenge through the Union’s enlargement conditionality concerning the
Roma, the most discriminated and marginalised group in the Western Balkans. By
specifically focusing on the protection and promotion of the rights of the Roma
in the Western Balkan countries, the article contends that despite decades of
efforts that have dramatically improved the legal infrastructures of the
Western Balkan states and harmonised them with the EU legislation, the overall
picture is still bleak and the Roma populations in the Western Balkans continue
to face discrimination in almost all spheres of life.

Keywords

Western Balkans, European Union, Normative Power, conditionality, enlargement, Roma

BATI BALKAN ROMANLARI: NORMATİF GÜÇ AVRUPA'NIN TURNUSOL TESTİ?

Abstract

Gün
geçtikçe daha ‘normatif’ bir güç olarak görülen Avrupa Birliği, sadece kendi
sınırları içinde değil, aynı zamanda kendisine komşu bölgeler ve dünyada da
‘normal’ ya da etik olarak üstün görülen davranış ve standartlar konusunda
belirleyici konumdadır. Avrupa Birliği dış politikasının bu düşünsel boyutu, en
açık haliyle Birlik’in en başarılı dış politika aracı olan genişleme
politikasında görülmektedir. Bu makale Avrupa Birliği’nin ‘normatif gücü’nün,
Batı Balkanlar’a yönelik genişleme politikası ve özellikle de bölgede en fazla
ayrımcılığa uğrayan ve marjinalize edilmiş grup olan Romanlara yönelik
genişleme şartlılığı ile sınandığı iddia etmektedir. Makale Batı Balkanlar’da
yaşayan Romanların haklarının korunması ve geliştirilmesi konusuna odaklanarak,
bölge ülkelerinin yasal altyapılarını Avrupa Birliği mevzuatı ile
uyumlulaştıran ve iyileştiren sürece rağmen bölgede yaşayan Romanlara yönelik
ayrımcılığın her alanda devam ettiğini savunmaktadır. 

Keywords

Batı Balkanlar, Avrupa Birliği, normatif güç, şartlılık, genişleme, Romanlar

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