The Europeanisation literature has argued that the conditionality’s limited penetration as well as the lack of institutional capacity have led to an implementation gap. With the argument implying that stronger institutions will in time overcome the implementation gap. In other words, the literature seemingly operates under the assumption that institutional change (if done well) will eventually lead to social change. This paper challenges such assumption by drawing attention to the societal barriers to the anti-discrimination law’s implementation.
It is argued that the implementation gap cannot be reduced to a lack of political will and more general issues with the rule of law in Serbia, as the social conditions for good implementing have not been created. Not only is the general understanding of the concept of discrimination limited in Serbia, but more importantly, LGBT people’s fear of being ‘outed’ and of social isolation prevents them from using the law. In short, the paper makes the case for a societal analysis of limited Europeanisation.
