The Small Member State and European Integration: The Case of Lithuania

Abstract

We argue that the EU small member state do have influence in the EU decision-making process through the rules acquired by politics of European enlargement. Small member state often uses domestic crisis as an impetus for further initiatives and strategies to be employed in order to overcome the domestic difficulties and to play a bigger role on the EU stage, thus compensating the disadvantages produced by the ‘smallness’ of a state. We give an explanation on the ground of European policy initiatives, undertaken by Lithuania, as well as the examples of the strategies employed in order to exercise the influence in economy, demography, and foreign policies. In the course of discussion, we argue that, while the great majority of the world’s sovereign states are small, the problems of small states and their influence is underestimated and have been often neglected. The more accurate analysis of small states would contribute to the more considerable potential future research on individual small states, and the theoretical aspects of international relations through the prism of small states in general.