In recent years, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans* (LGBT) rights have become increasingly salient within the EU enlargement process as a so-called litmus test for Europeanness, yet the promotion of such norms has provided a fulcrum for political contestation. Based on this observation, I ask how do the EU and a candidate country negotiate LGBT-related normative tensions which have been created as part of the overarching political integration process? By taking into account the international symbolism of LGBT norms, I suggest to move away from a classical approach to Europeanisation in which the impact of the EU on a third country is examined, towards a more dynamic conceptualisation of the EU enlargement process in which norms are inherently contested, and a resolution to normative struggles are required to advance political integration. Drawing on the critical scholarship on normative power Europe, I reject a uni-directional (top-down) understanding of EU enlargement in which the EU transplants its rules and norms to candidate countries, while proposing a complex multi- dimensional conceptualising in which different hegemonic struggles and normative tensions come together in a multi-layered normative struggle with its own tensions. How these tensions are negotiated is empirically studied in the context of the European integration process of Serbia (2001– 2015). Using process tracing, which draws on 89 semi- structured interviews, document analysis and participant observation, I analyse the promotion of and resistance to LGBT-inclusive anti-discrimination legislation and the organisation of LGBT Pride Parades in Belgrade. Overall, I introduce the concept of ‘Tactical Europeanisation’ to highlight that the EU accession process is better thought of as a process of negotiated transformation in which EU policies and norms are (re)defined, negotiated and transformed with both sides making compromised to further the political integration. With this research, I call for a more critical analysis of the civilizational politics embedded in the EU enlargement process that goes beyond institutional changes to include an analysis of transnational configurations of politics and the complex (negotiated) outcomes they produce.
Koen Slootmaeckers is a lecturer in International Politics at the Department of International Politics at City, University of London.His research deals with the promotion of and resistance to LGBT equality in international politics. More specifically, Koen has studied the EU accession of Serbia and how this process affects LGBT politics and activism. He is the the co-editor of the book ‘EU Enlargement and Gay Politics’ (Palgrave 2016; with Heleen Touquet and Peter Vermeersch), and the recipient of the 2018 UACES prize for best PhD in Contemporary European Studies. Koen is also the co-chair of the Council of European Studies' Gender and Sexuality Research Network. He tweets as @kslootmaeckers.