Independent Kosovo : A study on the EU's dissemenation of norms to Kosovo

The purpose of this study is to present if it is the EU’s dissemination of norms or other factors that affects Kosovo’s accession as a candidate country to the EU. The purpose was answered by finding out to what extent Kosovo can meet EU standards and values in terms of the Copenhagen criteria first criterion of stable institutions. Furthermore, what forms of dissemination the EU have used in trying to spread these standards. The study has used a main theory called Normative Power Europe, by Ian Manners, which describes the EU as a normative force and its mechanism of spreading values towards third-party countries. The conclusion in this study is that the biggest factor in why Kosovo isn’t a candidate country to the EU is because of the state’s infected conflict with Serbia.The conflict with Serbia is the basis of all the factors that keeps Kosovo to fail to meet EU requirements. Although, the EU have made improvements constitutionally since its increased commitment after 2008, the constitution hasn’t been implemented in practice by the Kosovan regime. The conflict needs to be resolved before Kosovo can take the next step and adapt to the rest of Europe.