Dimensions and Contradictions of the European Integration: Deepening Versus Widening

The second chapter tackles the question of how the European Union as an imagined community developed through the process of enlargement and integration of European states and citizens. The new model of a transnational citizenship in terms of belonging refers not only to the citizens of the member countries and resident migrants. It becomes a desirable goal for many citizens of the aspirant countries. This reflection helps understand how the prospect of joining the EU affects the democratization of the post-socialist European states, with a focus on its normative and procedural dimensions in the accession process of the ‘Western Balkan’ countries. The overall aim of the analysis is to understand the making of today’s Europe and its growing complexity, which constantly requires new arguments to legitimate the EU’s founding principles.