Europeanisation after EU accession: Transformation, reform and compliance in recent EU member states

Conference venue: Nice (France)
Period: Mar. 23 - 24, 2011
Deadline for submitting abstracts: Nov. 15, 2011

The process of EU accession had a strong impact on the political, social and economic transformation process in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Analysts have often stressed the crucial importance of conditionality on the transition in post-communist countries: By imposing a clear set of criteria and enforcing compliance, the EU could exert a decisive impact on the reform process and provide the concerned countries with a clear normative vision for their transformation. Europeanisation in the accession process was thus intimately linked with the mechanism of conditionality and compliance.

With the accession period being over and after some years of full EU membership, the question arises how europeanisation continues after conditionality: Have the transformation processes kept the same pace or have they slowed down? Did membership strengthen the capacity and political willingness for reform? How can the European Union enforce compliance without being endowed with a sanction mechanism? Did accession countries fulfill certain demands only under pressure and took the opportunity to back-pedal as soon as being full members of the club? Recent developments in some recent member states suggest that a long-term commitment to values and norms promoted by the EU is still lacking. The same questions apply to macroeconomic policies and their conformity to European standards. The crisis of the Eurozone has dramatically highlighted how recent member states fell short of adopting sound budgetary policies.

The conference will include the following panels:
1) The crisis of the economic and monetary union: The challenge of compliance
2) Human rights, democratization and minority protection after EU accession
3) Regionalization and the strengthening of administrative capacities: A side-effect of EU accession?
4) Fighting corruption after conditionality
5) National identity and EU membership: Euroscepticism and the return to nationalism in the wake of accession

The papers will be published in the summer 2012 issue of "L'Europe en Formation. Journal of Studies on European Integration and Federalism"

Propositions for papers (abstracts) shouldn't exceed 600 words and need to be sent in by November 15th, 2011, to the following email address: conference2012@europeenformation.eu

Please provide full contact details and current professional affiliation. Speakers will be selected through blind review. Selected speakers will be notified by December 1st, 2011. Papers need to be sent in by February 27th, 2012.

Language: Abstracts and final papers may be submitted in English or French. Since English is the shared language of the conference, presenters are expected to give their presentation in English for making cross-language communication easier. Some key concepts can be retained in the original language.

Ana Chokreva Valette
Assistant l'Europe en Formation
tel.: 0033(0)493.9793.70370
e-mail: conference2012@europeenformation.eu