Beyond the deadlock? Perspectives on future EU enlargement E-publication edited Joost Lagendijk and Jan Marinus Wiersma Clingendael Institute, The Hague, 2012 © Clingendael Institute Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’ Clingendael 7 2597 VH The Hague P.O. Box 93080 2509 AB The Hague Phone: + 31-70-3141950 Telefax: + 31-70-3141960 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.clingendael.nl © Clingendael Institute Note of the Editors The Netherlands Institute for International Relations Clingendael hosted a one-day seminar on the future of EU enlargement on the 29th of November 2011. The event was chaired by Joost Lagendijk, Senior Advisor Istanbul Policy Center, and Jan Marinus Wiersma, Senior Visiting Fellow Clingendael. As the title of the conference – Beyond the deadlock? Perspectives on future EU enlargement – indicates, the debate concentrated on the differences between the accession rounds of 2004 and 2007 en the one that is now under way. Both the EU and the (potential) candidate countries operate in a different context that is marked by a much stricter conditionality of the EU which has a negative impact on the speed of the enlargement process. The countries in question, with the possible exception of Iceland, are confronted with internal opposition to the EU, sometimes show a lack of reform mindedness and have difficulty coping with political obstacles like the Cyprus issue in the case of Turkey or the Kosovo question. The agenda of the seminar consisted of three main topics: lessons learned from past accessions, the cases of Turkey and Macedonia, and the future of enlargement. They are being dealt with in this publication from different angles.