Do norms impact state action, or are they purely instrumental and subordinate to material interests? I approach this long‐standing debate by analysing the European Union's (EU) enlargement terms. When the prospect of enlargement arises, the EU faces the dilemma of minimising resulting...

In this article, we introduce an innovative theoretical framework to analyse the use of differentiated implementation in the implementation process of European Union (EU) Directives. We identify rationales for offering flexibility in EU Directives as well as motives for policy‐makers to make...