EU Accession and the Rule of Law

This book offers a critical examination of how the EU's Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) has influenced governance and legal reform across the Western Balkans and beyond. Focusing on six countries at different stages of the accession process, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Croatia, and North Macedonia, this book assesses the IPA's evolving role as a mechanism for strengthening the rule of law. Through country-specific analyses, the book explores how IPA funding has supported judicial reform, anti-corruption measures, and legal harmonisation, while also considering the long-term effects in Croatia, the region's only EU member state. Additional contributions provide a broader assessment of the IPA's strategic development, successes, and limitations as an instrument of EU conditionality. Bridging theoretical perspectives with empirical insights, this book offers a comprehensive yet accessible exploration of EU financial aid as a driver of governance reform. This book will be of interest to researchers in the field of EU expansion and regional development, providing valuable lessons from the diverse trajectories of the Western Balkans.

Marko Novaković is a Serbian legal scholar and policy expert, full professor of law, and senior research fellow at the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade. He holds a PhD in international law and a PMP certification. Educated in Serbia, Italy, and the Netherlands, with academic and professional experience in Germany, the UK, Slovakia, and other European countries, he has advised governments and international organisations on judicial reform, EU accession, and international law. The author of over 50 publications, he is one of the leading regional authorities on diplomatic and international immunities and serves in editorial and advisory roles with ASIL, ILA, and other academic institutions. He works in Serbian, English, and French.

Marina Matić Bošković is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Belgrade and a justice reform expert. She holds a PhD in European criminal law, with over 20 years of academic and professional experience across the Western Balkans, the European Union, and Eastern Partnership countries. She has advised governments and international organisations on judicial reforms, the EU accession process, criminal law legislative drafting, the organisation of the judiciary, and protection of fundamental rights, as well as judicial statistics. She is the author of more than 80 publications. Since 2015, she has been President of the Program Council of the Prosecutors Association of Serbia, and she has been a member of the IAP (International Association of Prosecutors) Committee of the Forum for Associations of Prosecutors.