Policy brief titled "From Norms to Noise:Why the EU Talks Reform but Fuels Decline in the Balkans" offers a timely and sharp analysis of the EU’s approach to enlargement in the Western Balkans, highlighting inconsistencies between rhetoric and practice.

In this paper, BiEPAG member Jovana Marović argues that the EU undermines its credibility in the Western Balkans by prioritizing stability and strategic interests over democratic reforms. Despite positive rhetoric, the EU tolerates backsliding, rewards autocrats, and applies conditionality inconsistently. This deepens public distrust and weakens reform incentives.

Marović calls for providing a time-bound accession path fast-tracking forfrontrunner(s)based on measurable rule of law progress, aligning EU rhetoric with reality and enforcing clear accession criteria. She also urges limiting the misuse of bilateral vetoes and empowering civil society to restore the EU’s normative power and credibility in the enlargementprocess.