Seventeen years after the big round of EU enlargement and with the Conference on the Future of Europe up and running, the EU and the Western Balkan countries are confronted with a serious backsliding of the rule of law. A challenge, which is not only posing a risk for the democratic foundation of the EU but also favors those who argue for a de facto hold on all future enlargements. In their recommendations the authors of this Policy Brief, part of our “WB2EU” project, take account of the current state of the EU, the rule of law situation and democratic backsliding of the (potential) candidate countries in the Western Balkans.
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