BREXIT IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE ENLARGMEMENT OF THE WESTERN BALKANS

Abstract

Most of the analyses are performed to find the impact of the EU membership on trade relations and economic impact for the EU member states. On the contrary, the Brexit is the first case to discuss and predict the exit process. In this paper we will try to analyse the Brexit with regard to the EU enlargement of the Western Balkans. The first issue addressed by this paper is: the lack of political support of Britain for the EU enlargement of the Western Balkans from now on. The paper tackles another important issue, namely the EU-UK negotiation process and its impact on the Western Balkans. Assuming that Britain cannot negotiate optimally with the EU, which could impose long term negotiations, and therefore the main focus of the European Union will be directed to the Brexit process instead of focusing on the EU enlargement of the Western Balkans. We employed a survey of 400 respondents, covering mainly academics working on the EU affairs and other stakeholders in four Western Balkan countries, to produce the empirical results from the expectations of respondents about the future prospects of the European Union in the Western Balkans after Brexit. The survey was conducted in 2017. Generally, based on the statistical indicators as well as the survey results, we can conclude that the respondents in the Western Balkans are still optimistic about the Europen Integration process despite the Brexit and other EU challenges.