Assessing governmental capabilities to manage European affairs: the case of Lithuania
ENThe Lithuanian government’s policy with regard to the European Union (EU) is passing through a particularly difficult period. It has become increasingly criticised, not only by the European Commission, but also by the national legislature. It is primarily the EU’s pressure to decommission Lithuania’s nuclear power plant that is blamed by the Lithuanian government for its failure to secure a place within the EU’s first-wave enlargement. In contrast, this analysis argues that major difficulties that are encountered by the Lithuanian government in acceding to the EU can be explained in terms of its weak governmental capabilities to manage EU matters. The evolution of Lithuanian governmental capabilities is at the centre of this analysis. This research question is important for several reasons. From the theoretical perspective, an analysis of Lithuanian governmental capabilities may shed some light on the evolution of governmental capabilities to manage EU matters in small and post-communist countries.
