NORMATIVE POWER AND POLITICAL CONDITIONALITY IN THE WESTERN BALKANS A qualitative content analysis of the EU progress reports of Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia

Abstract

Europe's normative power has shaped global politics since the 1990s, especially during the enlargement process, by encouraging countries to emulate the EU through norms and values without military force. These norms are spread through various methods, some more effective. While prior research highlights the EU's influence, it mainly criticizes candidate countries during accession, focusing on negative portrayals of their progress. Less attention is given to how the EU presents normative power in progress reports, and no comparative studies exist between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, two countries the EU should focus more on. This thesis analyzes how the EU portrays its normative power in these countries, identifies key mechanisms, and examines their effectiveness, variation across countries, and over time. Using normative power Europe theory and political conditionality as frameworks, the study conducts qualitative content analysis of four progress reports. Findings indicate a shift over time, with procedural diffusion becoming more prominent in later years. However, informational diffusion is more common, and there is little evidence of transference and political conditionality in either report.