The enlargement of the European Union towards the Western Balkans and the rule of law as a tool for economic development

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Abstract

The enlargement of the European Union (EU) towards the Western Balkans contains challenges. Although the EU’s goal is its enlargement, some EU countries present skepticism. The Western Balkans have not yet reached the appropriate stage of economic development. The rule of law has been among the main barriers that have hindered their EU integration advancement. This paper is based on the work of Osmani et al. (2022a), Leka et al. (2022), and Qorraj and Jusufi (2018). The aim and objective of this paper are to analyze the enlargement policy of the EU towards the countries of the Western Balkans, focusing on Kosovo. Historical research methods were used to collect facts and chronological data. The main finding of this paper is that the rule of law is the main factor that positively affects the integration of the countries of the Western Balkans into the EU, as well as the increase in the level of economic development. Therefore, as a conclusion, it can be affirmed that integration in the EU is essential for the existence of this region. The relevance of this paper lies in the fact that it deals with an important topic from the field of European integration for small countries like Kosovo.

Keywords: European Union, Enlargement, Law, Western Balkans, Economic, Kosovo

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — A.P.-O. and F.O.; Methodology — A.P.-O. and F.O.; Investigation — A.P.-O, and F.O.; Resources — A.P.-O. and F.O.; Writing — A.P.-O. and F.O.; Supervision — A.P.-O. and F.O.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: F14, K10, O10

Received: 21.12.2023
Accepted: 10.06.2024
Published online: 14.06.2024

How to cite this paper: Paçarizi-Osmani, A., & Osmani, F. (2024). The enlargement of the European Union towards the Western Balkans and the rule of law as a tool for economic development. Corporate Law & Governance Review, 6(2), 74–82. https://doi.org/10.22495/clgrv6i2p7