Natasha Wunsch

Civil Society Mobilisation in Montenegro

This chapter traces the evolving mobilisation strategies employed by Montenegrin civil society organisations engaged in rule of law issues. It points to an exceptionally high level of formal civil society involvement throughout the accession process. During the initial phase of negotiations, civil society actors were able to use their unusually extensive access to shape their country’s reform commitments through a hybrid mobilisation strategy, which combined input via official channels and extra-institutional mobilisation. Yet despite the successful framing of civil society participation within the broader package of rule of law reforms, results were more mitigated when it comes to the substantive empowerment of CSOs at the domestic level and the sustainability of their involvement. The chapter describes how concerns over funding have threatened the sustainability of the most prominent mobilisation formats, while a recent deterioration in the political climate means civil society organisations are struggling to see their demands translated into policy outcomes.

Conclusion: Civil Society Empowerment and Its Limits

This chapter summarises the strategies and outcomes of civil society mobilisation related to the rule of law in Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia. It claims that the EU accession process provides opportunities for civil society actors to mobilize strategically and to strengthen their positions at the domestic level. However, structural obstacles and a lack of government officials’ receptiveness poses serious limitations to empowerment. To overcome these limits, the chapter puts forward practical recommendations as to how the EU and other international donors could shift from instrumental towards strategic, long-term support for civil society actors in enlargement countries. For civil society actors themselves, it suggests that lasting empowerment hinges upon their ability to develop sustainable mobilisation formats and find constructive ways of engaging at the domestic level.

Comparing Mobilisation Strategies and Outcomes

This chapter provides a comparative discussion of the empirical findings regarding civil society mobilisation around rule of law issues in Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia. It suggests that top-down approaches focusing exclusively on the impact of EU civil society support tend to overlook important dynamics that influence both the shape and effectiveness of civil society engagement. Instead, strategic mobilisation and deliberate choices by civil society organisations are key to the process of differential empowerment. Besides, transnational learning between civil society actors from different enlargement rounds crucially informed the timing of mobilisation and the development of specific mobilisation formats. Despite formal gains in terms of access and some influence on policy outcomes, an overreliance upon EU leverage and a lack of responsiveness at the domestic level limit the effective and sustainable empowerment of civil society actors as an outcome of the EU accession process.

Introduction: Differential Empowerment and Domestic Change Agents

This chapter introduces the theoretical framework developed to investigate processes of differential empowerment in the EU accession context. It situates the analysis of civil society mobilisation in the broader debate on Europeanisation and the role of domestic actors and clarifies the book’s actor-centred perspective. It presents differential empowerment as a three-step process leading from shifting opportunities during the membership negotiations to deliberate usages of such openings by local civil society actors and ending with their eventual strengthening vis-a-vis domestic executives. A brief discussion of the research design provides information on the selected cases and data sources. The final section offers an overview of the book’s structure.

Civil Society Mobilisation in Croatia

This chapter examines rule of law-related civil society mobilisation in Croatia during the final years of the country’s membership talks and in the early post-accession period. It points to a tangible strengthening of Croatian civil society actors during the final stages of the accession process, which was favoured by their collective mobilisation and direct engagement with EU actors. Empowerment, however, remained tightly circumscribed due to civil society actors’ late mobilisation and their overreliance upon the EU as an ally, a role the EU ceased to play upon Croatia’s accession. The chapter highlights the importance of domestic agency and the role of deliberate and creative usages of the EU accession framework. At the same time, it points to the limitations of mobilisation strategies that, by necessity as much as by choice, privilege EU leverage over a broader engagement at the domestic level.

Civil Society Mobilisation in Serbia

This chapter analyses civil society mobilisation around rule of law issues in Serbia’s EU accession process. During the preparatory phases of membership negotiations, civil society actors focused on positioning themselves at the domestic level and developing expertise and contact networks to engage fruitfully with EU-level actors. Transnational learning enabled early mobilisation as well as a rather successful adaptation of mobilisation formats tested in other enlargement countries, opening up space for a more lasting improvement of state-civil society relations. Still, substantive influence over policy contents has been low. Moreover, enduring concerns over transparency and a change in government responsiveness—as the focus of negotiations has shifted from formal commitments to their implementation—have diminished the prospects for CSOs to engage constructively in the negotiations and to achieve substantive empowerment in the face of an increasingly dominant executive.

Evolving Opportunities in the EU Accession Process

EU accession tends to become the dominant paradigm for domestic policy-making in candidate countries. This situation brings a considerable shift to the political opportunity structure that directly affects civil society actors’ work and requires them to adapt to new circumstances. This chapter connects the context of EU membership negotiations to civil society mobilisation on the ground, tracing developments related to the formal set-up of the EU accession process and to the explicit support provided by the Commission to civil society actors in candidate countries. It discusses how changes in these two areas affect the capacities of CSOs and expand their options regarding venue choice and repertoire. In doing so, this chapter sets the stage for a more detailed analysis of civil society mobilisation in the subsequent country case studies.

Between indifference and hesitation: France and EU enlargement towards the Balkans

Abstract France’s hesitant stance on EU enlargement towards the Balkans is illustrative of a broader ambivalence among both French elites and citizens towards the European project. Despite principled support for the Balkans’ EU membership, achieving this step is no strategic priority for France. The official approach emphasizes strict conditionality and a rigorous monitoring of reform progress in aspirant countries. A hostile public opinion and superficial media coverage further strengthen the country’s reluctance to admit new, possibly unprepared candidates into the Union. Analysing the historical evolution of the French position on EU enlargement as well as its current political, institutional and societal expressions, this article construes France’s disinvestment from the Balkans’ EU perspective as the result of failed expectations and a growing disillusionment with the EU’s international role and its political future more broadly.