What is Enlargement

This chapter examines the phenomenon of backsliding in the post-accession process of Europeanisation in Slovenia as one of the Central and Eastern European member states of the EU. It seeks to explain the rise of compliance problems with the EU's values (i.e., de-Europeanisation) in Slovenia, which turned a former EU star pupil into a troublesome member state. The chapter analyses sources of economic and democratic backsliding in times of polycrises in the EU that stem from the state's domestic environment and confirms the determining role of decision-makers over the political system. Given the importance and widely shared image of Slovenia as a role model for the candidate states in the Western Balkans, the chapter also addresses the potential impact of Slovenia's de-Europeanisation turn for its role as a bridge between the EU and the Western Balkans region.