Parallel EU Accession Tracks: The Shortcomings of Partially Implementing Theory into Practice

The European Union’s (EU’s) enlargement policy no longer follows a single, rule-based trajectory but is instead evolving into a dual-track system. On one side stands the formal accession process, grounded in the Revised Enlargement Methodology (REM) and theoretically operationalized through the Staged Accession Model (SAM). The model developed by the European Policy Centre – Belgrade (CEP) and the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) offers a merit-based, cluster-driven framework intended to restore credibility and predictability to the enlargement process. In parallel, a second track has gained prominence, one that advances more swiftly and is less constrained by institutional hurdles or political vetoes. This alternative approach seems to focus on financial facilities and growth plans, being framed as a form of gradual integration. This article engages critically with both tracks of the EU enlargement process, taking the Eastern Partnership Trio and the Western Balkans as examples of countries actively involved in each. The article moves from SAM’s clear operationalization and strategic structure to the political ambiguity and inconsistencies in the conditions applied across both tracks. It discusses what these tensions reveal about the future of an increasingly improvised and fragmented EU enlargement logic.