EU enlargement has always been a political process. That said, the rule of law is an important aspect and principle of the EU enlargement policy. Implementation of EU driven reforms in candidate countries largely depends on the rule of law-based enlargement as well as on a clear EU perspective. Overpoliticisation of the enlargement process renders the EU’s enlargement law futile and undermines both the transformative effect of the pre-accession process and EU’s own values. The implementation of the enlargement condition for settlement of bilateral disputes, which became pronounced in the EU enlargement towards the Western Balkan countries, is having the negative effect of contributing to deterioration rather than promotion of the rule of law in both EU candidate countries and the EU’s enlargement process. Lack of predictability and rule of law accordingly, makes the effective application of the principle of conditionality impossible. A genuine reconsideration of the condition for settlement of bilateral disputes within the EU enlargement framework, clear EU perspective and viable way forward are urgently needed for bringing rule of law and the EU’s credibility on track.

欧盟扩大一直是一个政治进程。也就是说，法治是欧盟扩大政策的一个重要方面和原则。在候选国实施欧盟推动的改革在很大程度上取决于基于法治的扩大以及明确的欧盟观点。扩大进程的过度政治化使欧盟的扩大法无效，并破坏了加入前进程的变革效果和欧盟自身的价值观。解决双边争端的扩大条件的实施，在欧盟向西巴尔干国家的扩大中变得明显，对欧盟候选国和欧盟的法治都产生了恶化而不是促进法治的负面影响。放大过程。相应地，缺乏可预见性和法治，使得附加条件原则的有效适用成为不可能。迫切需要真正重新考虑在欧盟扩大框架内解决双边争端的条件、明确的欧盟观点和可行的前进方向，以使法治和欧盟的信誉走上正轨。