If you have a personal stake in joining the MAXCAP project, described below, through a regular doctoral program at the Department of European Studies,

please, contact me a.s.a.p. at:

gd@sclg.uni-sofia.bg

Full command of English is a must!

Sincerely,

Prof. Georgi Dimitrov

Collaborative projects

MAXIMIZING THE INTEGRATION CAPACITY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION: LESSONS AND PROSPECTS FOR ENLARGEMENT AND BEYOND
(acronym: MAXCAP)

Name of the coordinating person:
Prof. Dr. Tanja A. Börzel, Freie Universität Berlin; Dr. Antoaneta Dimitrova, University of Leiden
Participant institutions:
Freie Universität Berlin; University of Leiden; London School of Economics and Political Science;
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich; European University Institute, Florence; Central European University, Budapest, and others


The ‘big bang enlargement’ of the European Union (EU) has posed a major challenge to its integration capacity. The research project MAXCAP will investigate the political and economic effects of the 2004-2007 enlargement, the strategies the EU developed to cope with the political, social and economic challenges accompanying it, and the lessons for future enlargements. We start with a critical analysis of the effects of the 2004-2007 enlargement on stability, democracy, prosperity, and social and economic cohesion of candidate countries, on the one hand, and on the EU’s institutions, on the other. We will then investigate how the EU can maximize its integration capacity for current and future enlargements.
MAXCAP brings together a group of excellent researchers from older and new member states and current candidate countries that join forces with an eminent NGO network based in the Western Balkans. We will be the first international collaborative project to systematically compare and assess the institutional, economic, and social effects of enlargement on the capacity of the EU to absorb new members without compromising the working of its institutions and policies.