Erik Jones
Erik Jones is the Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. Professor Jones is author of The Politics of Economic and Monetary Union (2002), Economic Adjustment and Political Transformation in Small States (2008), Weary Policeman: American Power in an Age of Austerity (2012, with Dana H. Allin), and The […]
Anghel, V., & Jones, E. (2024). Three Lessons From the 2004 “Big Bang” Enlargement. Politics and Governance, 12, Article 8358.
Abstract: The 2004 “Big Bang” enlargement was a powerful reminder that European integration is an instrument for peace and not just prosperity. The pace of that enlargement depended more on the requirements for stability than on the transformation of the candidate countries. It was also a reminder of the importance of forward-looking analysis. Candidates might […]
Anghel, V., & Jones, E. (2024). What Went Wrong In Hungary. Journal of Democracy 35(2), 52-64.
Abstract: Why did Hungarian democracy have a harder time developing and rooting itself than democracy in other countries? The answer lies in the overlapping institutions and incentives that create democratic resilience. Hungary’s political elites never finished their constitutional transition from communism to democracy by agreeing on a new democratic constitution. The 1998 elections polarized Hungarian […]
Anghel, V., & Jones, E. (2024). The enlargement of international organisations. West European Politics, 48(1), 1–28.
Abstract: Scholars tend to study international organisations as selective clubs. Theorising organisations as clubs, however, obscures an important aspect of their evolution that is connected to the goods they produce. Some organisations produce goods that are increasingly attractive and accessible to non-members. Those organisations face pressures to enlarge beyond the optimal size suggested by club […]
Jones, E.(2024). ‘Enlargement and Institutional Reform: How to Make a Credible Security Commitment.’ Fit for 35 Forum (Stockholm: SIEPS, 27 February).
The challenges of enlargement are great, but the costs of non-enlargement are greater. Professor Erik Jones points out what European policymakers need to consider when committing to enlargement as an investment in peace, security, and stability. Read more
Anghel, V., & Jones, E. (2023). Broken promises diplomacy: The Russia-Ukraine war and the end of enlargement as we know it. In J. Džankić, S. Kacarska, & S. Keil (Eds.), A year later: War in Ukraine and Western Balkan (geo)politics (pp. 6–14). European University Institute.
Among its many other tragic effects, the Russia-Ukraine war has complicated life for the countries of the Western Balkans. The European Union’s reaction to the war included the revival of a rhetoric supportive of enlargement to the Western Balkans, in addition to financial aid to weather the energy crisis. The European Council has even granted […]
Anghel, V., & Jones, E. (2022). Is Europe really forged through crisis? Pandemic EU and the Russia – Ukraine war. Journal of European Public Policy, 30(4), 766–786.
Abstract: The European Union’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic revealed changes and continuity in the structure and the functioning of the European project. In lieu of a conclusion to the Special Issue, this article discusses what those lessons tell us about how Europe responds to the following crisis. We compare European responses to the pandemic […]
Allin, D. H., & Jones, E. (2022). Sleepwalking to Solidarity? Russia, Ukraine and the European Dream. Survival, 64(3), 213–222.
Abstract: Europeans’ awakening to a new reality of East–West confrontation, driven home by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has fed the accusation that they must have been asleep, much as they were before the First World War. Many view Germany’s complacency in particular – manifested by its promotion of energy dependence on Russia – as inexcusable. […]
Anghel, V., & Jones, E. (2021). Failing forward in Eastern Enlargement: problem solving through problem making. Journal of European Public Policy, 29(7), 1092–1111.
Abstract: The ‘failing forward’ synthesis of liberal intergovernmentalism and neofunctionalism puts European member states governments in charge of the process of integration (Jones et al., [2016]. Failing Forward? The Euro Crisis and the Incomplete Nature of European Integration. Comparative Political Studies, 48(7), 1010–1034. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414015617966). However, this placement does not show clearly whether the principals are […]