After over two decades since the initiation of the process, little progress has been made regarding the EU accession of Balkan candidates, with membership prospects still appearing distant. Current legal and political discussions are exploring alternatives to EU membership for candidates, considering various models of Differentiated Integration, already widely employed by the Union both internally and for extending its policies beyond its borders.
EU decentralised agencies play a crucial role in EU governance, tasked with implementing Union law and offering expertise in the regulatory process across Union competencies. No other institutions or bodies within the Union have become so important for regulatory governance in the EU while providing an opportunity for almost full participation of non-member States.
During the seminar, Marko Milenkovic will examine the current and potential involvement of Western Balkans countries with the decentralised EU agencies as tools for transformation and transfer of standards. The presented paper analyses the degree to which participation in these agencies already constitutes a significant aspect of the Differentiated Integration approach for the region. Additionally, it aims to determine whether such engagement has the potential to serve as a tangible way forward in cooperation with the region in the absence of membership prospects.