Stato di diritto e Balcani occidentali: un percorso di adesione all’Unione europea in salita

Rule of law and the Western Balkans: an uphill climb to EU membership

Abstract

The aim of this contribution is to underscore the pivotal role of the rule of law in the context of the conditions set for the Balkan countries' accession to the European Union. It does so by assessing the progress, or in some cases, the lack thereof, in reforms undertaken, particularly in the four candidate countries that were once part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia). Additionally, the work endeavors to address the question of why this geographical region still lags significantly behind in terms of European integration. In doing so, it seeks to determine whether the shared history of membership in the Yugoslav state has influenced the matter of the rule of
law. Specifically, it examines if certain issues affecting the rule of law in most of these countries are not rather inherent to the legal systems under scrutiny due to their historical context.