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Europeanisation of minority policy in Croatia: Limited outcomes of the second generation minority conditionality

The European Union’s (EU) pre-accession condition that requires respect for and protection of minorities was severely scrutinized in the European Union accession of Croatia, stretching well beyond a normative- institutional requirement that was applied in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) accession process. The Croatian authorities were in addition to manifestation of respect for and protection of minorities requested to demonstrate cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and to show good record of war crime prosecution in domestic trials. In addition, the accession process made reference to a slow and unsuccessful return process of the Serb refugees, requiring more intense commitment of the authorities in this matter. Finally, the accession process required initiatives promoting greater integration, reconciliation and tolerance in the country that experienced the war in which Croatian authorities fought the renegade Serb minority in early 1990s. This expanded second generation conditionality that was tailored-made for a post-conflict country, indeed resulted in a number of improvements in the Croatian minority policy, and proved particularly beneficial for the minority political elites who were in a position to decide formation of two consecutive governments in 2003 and 2007. This paper therefore assesses a very limited, if at all successful impact of the European- integration upon the legal and political system of the newest Member State. The aim is to assess the outcomes of the Europeanisation of the minority policy in the country that bares a legacy of inter-ethnic conflict. Croatia, being the fists of the Western Balkans countries, to join the Union, sets an example for other countries of the region to go on with their reform initiatives, those concerning a management of ethnic diversity being just one of many to be undertaken. The article will therefore try to answer following questions: What are objectives and outcomes of the Europeanization of a minority policy in one of the Western Balkans candidate countries? Does the effectiveness of EU conditionality deteriorate necessarily after accession? Are the domestic changes vis-a-vis minority protection generated by pre-accession conditionality conducive to sustainable compliance of the minority policy after accession?

EU conditionality vis-a-visminority protection; second generation conditionality; successful impact of the European integration upon the legal and political system of Croatia; promoting integration of national minorities; post-conflict reconciliation

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