Due to the fact that the two Eastern European countries joining in 2007, Romania and Bulgaria, have faced stronger restrictions, their situation will be analyzed separately in the form of a case-study.
This aims to illustrate the impact of the imposition of such transitional measures on the idea of identity and a common European citizenship. The allegations of the European Union using double standards as well as perceptions of the ‘2nd class citizenship’ will also be discussed.
The general analysis will consider the main actors involved: the EU institutions, Member States governments and the European and national interests. Their interactions will be followed in the context of the European decision-making process with supranationalism and intergovernmentalism and the divide between the state-centric and society-centric policy making as defined by Mehmet Ugur, providing the analytical framework. The ideas of Robert Putnam of a ‘two-level game’ explaining the linkages between domestic interests and international bargaining will help us analyse the states` interactions in their attempt to ‘minimise risks and maximise benefits’, while at the same time considering the domestic roots of states preferences as they are explained by Simon Bulmer.