‘EUROPEAN STANDARDS’ HINDER BALKANS
Ian Bancroft

guardian.co.uk
Thursday 22 April 2010 14.00 BST

The process of European integration goes some way to explaining why
democracy in the Balkans remains so illiberal

For the countries of the western Balkans, achieving "European
standards" is a regularly heard pronouncement from both diplomats
and politicians alike. Though it’s designed to strengthen pro-reform
coalitions, the unintended consequences of this refrain have had
profound ramifications on politics and policy-making. By being employed
to dodge or distort policy debate, recourse to apparently European
standards has helped reinforce an illiberal democratic tendency;
a tendency that may ultimately inhibit the region’s progress towards
EU membership.

Supposedly following the French example, the prime minister of
Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, has proposed legislation prohibiting
the wearing of headscarves in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In justifying
the ban, Dodik emphasised that such a "law has been adopted by certain
European countries and we think that we should come closer to European
standards as well". On a similar note, Dodik’s government has proposed
a declaration condemning the Turkish genocide against Armenians, "in
the same form as done by other western countries", despite opposing
a resolution on Srebrenica.

By grounding such proposals in the European example, Dodik, in an
election year, is attempting to justify as reasonable policies aimed
not at improving the lives of Republika Srpska’s citizens, but at
wooing the nationalist sentiment and vote. Though Switzerland is not
an EU member state, the Swiss ban on building of minarets may provide
another presumed precedent for a government intent on dividing and
disrupting Bosniak public and political opinion.

The discourse of European standards has tended to strip public policy
debate in the region of much of its substance; with qualitative
deliberations as to which policy is the most effective having been
replaced by quantitative considerations about whether or not a
particular policy course will take the country in question closer to
EU membership.

Claims such as "there is no alternative to Europe" only serve to
further dissuade citizens and the media from engaging in politics.

Combined with the tendency of the EU accession process to focus on
political elites, these factors help explain the comparative dearth
of grass-roots activism.

Though enabling politicians to justify often-contentious policies,
the discourse of European standards also allows leaders to distance
themselves from specific decisions and outcomes. Serbia’s resolution on
Srebrenica was seen, and indeed even justified, by some as a necessary
step expected of the country on its path towards the EU.

Many politicians supported the initiative not because it was right
and necessary in and of itself, but because it conformed to European
expectations.

Viewed through this prism, the resolution, as with co-operation with
The Hague tribunal, will contribute little to Serbia’s efforts to face
up to the past, nor to improving relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The discourse and process of European integration goes some way to
explaining why democracy in the Balkans has remained so illiberal.

While politicians are eager to pay lip-service to European standards,
their actions and approaches demonstrate a diverging tendency. Ever
eager to demonstrate signs of progress, however, particularly in
the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EU has often neglected its
own objectivity.

The term European standards has also been over-exploited, with
generally negative consequences. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, for
instance, the office of the high representative insisted on police
reform in order to meet European principles that never actually existed
within the EU itself. The eventual climbdown severely undermined the
international community’s reform leverage.

To be truly effective at inducing reform in the western Balkans, the
EU needs to go beyond the overly simplistic discourse of European
standards to explain why and how Europe has achieved and sustained
these standards. Securing genuine reform also requires the active
engagement of citizens and the media in substantive policy debate.

Europe must also emphasise that European standards are an aspiration
that Europe itself continually strives to achieve; not a given that
can automatically be taken for granted. On the contrary, as the
aforementioned cases of imitation show, Europe must be more aware of
its own shortcomings.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress