The Effect of Late Enlargements of the EU to the Study of Europeanization: From a Series of Thematic Shifts to a Paradigmal Change. Some political and integration policy consequences.

The paper focuses on three main topics: 1. The paradigmal change in EU enlargement studies which results from a series of thematic shifts - from the study of the factors influencing the success of the enlargement towards the registration and understanding of the crisis in the Eastern enlargement which culminates in the reversibility of Europeanization; from the commonality of the processes of enlargement, or at least of compatibility of the national states, the crisis redirects the attention at national, sectoral and temporal differences; from levels of harmonization of Law through the crisis of the acquis implementation and the protracted fight against corruption towards the more fundamental problem of the rule of law establishment and promotion; from descriptive studies and naïve interpretations of the enlargement crisis towards systematical historical explanations of the socio-structural premises for the resistance against the Europeanization. 2. The linkage among the state-patronizing over economy, the high-level political corruption and the ineffective judicial system which predetermines the failure of the EC’s Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. 3. The main accents of the due new political approach to the EU enlargement - prioritization of the institutional mechanisms for responsible governance, both at government level for policy-making and at the level of work of the public administration in protection of the public interest through dialogue with the citizens, which implies a radical decentralization of power; establishment of mechanisms for public accountability and responsibility of the judiciary by the delivery of results of its work – fair justice in reasonable terms; radically higher responsibility of the European Commission for a real partnership in the post-accession process by placing the main emphasis on practices of promoting and protecting the rule of law as opposed to the current practice of distant monitoring of the passive sabotage to effective Europeanization