Post-Accession Conditionality: Support Instrument for Continuous Pressure? KFG Working Paper No. 18, 2011

The establishment of a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for monitoring Bulgaria’s and Romania’s progress in the areas of judiciary and fight against corruption not only confirms the evolutionary nature of EU conditionality, but introduces a new feature, that of post-accession conditionality. More than three years after accession, neither Bulgaria nor Romania have managed to tackle the remaining issues and the scrupulous monitoring mechanism is still maintained. What are the main features and limitations of post-accession conditionality? Why does the effectiveness of EU conditionality deteriorate after accession? The article outlines a conceptual framework for comparative study of pre-accession and post-accession conditionality. On the basis of a stage-structured conditionality model, it discusses the transformations of the main elements of conditionality before and after accession and argues that the absence of accession advancement rewards combined with toothless explicit threats for sanctioning non-compliance produce very weak negative incentive structure which undermines the effectiveness of post-accession conditionality. The study, which draws on extensive interviews with senior EU officials and examination of key EU documents, highlights the growing application of differentiated and targeted conditionality and concludes with a reflection on the future of the mechanism and its implications for the ongoing enlargement of the Union with countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey

support instrument for continuous pressure?

1\. Introduction 5 2\. Revisiting EU Conditionality in the Context of Post- Accession Conditionality 6 2.1 Stage-Structured Conditionality Model for Comparative Examination of EU Enlargement Conditionality 7 3\. Comparative Examination of Pre-Accession and Post-Accession Conditionality 12 3.1 Comparative Examination of Pre-Accession and Post-Accession Conditions 12 3.2 Comparative Examination of Pre-Accession and Post-Accession Monitoring Instruments 14 3.3 Comparative Examination of Pre-Accession and Post-Accession Incentive Structure 16 4\. Conclusion: Limitations of Post-Accession Conditionality and the Future of EU Enlargement Conditionality 21 Literature 23The establishment of a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for monitoring Bulgaria’s and Romania’s progress in the areas of judiciary and fight against corruption not only confirms the evolutionary nature of EU conditionality, but introduces a new feature, that of post-accession conditionality. More than three years after accession, neither Bulgaria nor Romania have managed to tackle the remaining issues and the scrupulous monitoring mechanism is still maintained. What are the main features and limitations of post-accession conditionality? Why does the effectiveness of EU conditionality deteriorate after accession? The article outlines a conceptual framework for comparative study of pre-accession and post-accession conditionality. On the basis of a stage-structured conditionality model, it discusses the transformations of the main elements of conditionality before and after accession and argues that the absence of accession advancement rewards combined with toothless explicit threats for sanctioning non-compliance produce very weak negative incentive structure which undermines the effectiveness of post-accession conditionality. The study, which draws on extensive interviews with senior EU officials and examination of key EU documents, highlights the growing application of differentiated and targeted conditionality and concludes with a reflection on the future of the mechanism and its implications for the ongoing enlargement of the Union with countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey

Post-accession conditionality: support instrument for continuous pressure?

The establishment of a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for monitoring Bulgaria’s and Romania’s progress in the areas of judiciary and fight against corruption not only confirms the evolutionary nature of EU conditionality, but introduces a new feature, that of post-accession conditionality. More than three years after accession, neither Bulgaria nor Romania have managed to tackle the remaining issues and the scrupulous monitoring mechanism is still maintained. What are the main features and limitations of post-accession conditionality? Why does the effectiveness of EU conditionality deteriorate after accession? The article outlines a conceptual framework for comparative study of pre-accession and post-accession conditionality. On the basis of a stage-structured conditionality model, it discusses the transformations of the main elements of conditionality before and after accession and argues that the absence of accession advancement rewards combined with toothless explicit threats for sanctioning non-compliance produce very weak negative incentive structure which undermines the effectiveness of post-accession conditionality. The study, which draws on extensive interviews with senior EU officials and examination of key EU documents, highlights the growing application of differentiated and targeted conditionality and concludes with a reflection on the future of the mechanism and its implications for the ongoing enlargement of the Union with countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey

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On Different Tracks:Bulgaria and Romania under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism

Romania and Bulgaria both joined the EU in 2007 and became subject to an ad hoc tool, the ‘Cooperation and Verification Mechanism’ (CVM), which was created by the European Commission to evaluate the progress of the two countries. Today, however, there is a growing gap between the two states: while Commission officials have suggested the possibility of Romania graduating out of the mechanism soon, there has been very little progress recorded in Bulgaria. Eli Gateva argues that questions about how and when the CVM will end have overshadowed debates about its effectiveness, and that the recent worrying developments in Poland and Hungary show that a more comprehensive approach to the rule of law is needed