Political criteria for accession to the EU : human rights conditionality and the Croatian case

Abstract

In 1993, the European Union (EU) member states established the Copenhagen Criteria, which define political, economic and legal (adoption of acquis) conditions for accession to the Union. The Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries were the first candidates whose applications were considered with respect to their compliance with these criteria. In this article the political criteria, specifically the human rights conditionality which is scrutinized under the political pillar, is analyzed. Since 2004, the year that the CEE countries joined the EU, an emphasis on a ‘stricter’ political conditionality has been made by the European officials and institutions. The objective of this article is to discover how the changes in the EU’s approach to political conditionality after 2004 have had an impact upon the human rights conditionality. For this purpose, the Croatian case and the way the EU applied conditionality to this country is examined, and it is concluded that despite some indicators of change, the stricter political conditionality does not have strong reflections on the human rights conditionality in the Croatian accession process.

Keywords

• Copenhagen Criteria
• Stricter Political Conditionality
• Human Rights Conditions
• Western Balkan Enlargement
• Human Rights in Croatia

AB’ye Katılım için Siyasi Kriterler: İnsan Hakları Koşulu ve Hırvatistan Örneği

Abstract

1993 yılında Avrupa Birliği (AB) üye ülkeleri Birlik’e katılım için siyasi, ekonomik ve hukuksal (müktesebata uyum) koşulları tanımlayan Kopenhag Kriterleri’ni belirlediler. Merkezi ve Doğu Avrupa (MDA) ülkeleri, başvuruları bu kriterleri sağlamalarına ilişkin olarak değerlendirilen ilk adaylar oldular. Bu makalede, siyasi kriterler ve özellikle de siyasi sütunun altında incelenen insan hakları koşulu analiz edilmiştir. 2004 yılından beri, yani MDA ülkelerinin AB’ye katıldığı yıldan beri, AB yetkilileri ve kurumları daha sıkı bir siyasi şartlılığa vurgu yapmaktadır. Bu makalenin amacı 2004’ten sonra AB’nin siyasi şartlılığa yaklaşımındaki değişikliklerin insan hakları koşulları üzerinde nasıl bir etkisi olduğunu bulmaktır. Bu amaçla, Hırvatistan örneği ve AB’nin bu ülkeye uyguladığı koşulluluk incelenmiş ve bazı değişiklik göstergeleri olmasına rağmen Hırvatistan’ın katılım sürecinde katı siyasi koşulluluğun insan hakları koşulluluğu üzerinde güçlü yansımaları olmadığı sonucuna varılmıştır.

Keywords

• Kopenhag Kriterleri
• Katı Siyasi Koşulluluk
• İnsan Hakları Koşulları
• Batı Balkanlar Genişlemesi
• Hırvatistan’da İnsan Hakları

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