Bulletin n. 3/2006 | ||
December 2006 | ||
Raik Kristi |
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Promoting Democracy in the Eastern Neighbourhood - The Limits and Potential of the ENP | ||
in International Spectator (The) , Vol. XLI, n. 3, July-September , 2006 | ||
The EU aims to promote democracy in its eastern neighbouring countries through the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) launched in 2003. The EU has three types of neighbours in the east: Ukraine, a case of "re-transition"; Moldova, a case of prolonged transition; and Belarus, an outright authoritarian regime. As a result it needs to differentiate between stages of democratisation when designing external support. The ENP has many weaknesses as an instrument for spreading democracy, above all the fact that the conditionality policy included in the ENP is not supported by strong incentives or rewards that would encourage reforms. Some policy suggestions that could make the ENP a more effective tool of democracy promotion include systematic conditionality and an improved mechanism for supporting civil society, in particular pro-democratic groups in authoritarian countries. | ||