Despite the EU’s broad formal commitments to promote democratic norms, the feeling is widespread that in practice European governments have become less committed to promoting political change in many third countries. Overall, the EU appears to be failing to meet the challenges of a more complex international environment for democracy and human rights, having declined fundamentally to reassess its democracy support in either qualitative or quantitative terms.
This book aims to enhance understanding of the EU’s role in promoting human rights and democratic norms in the European Neighbourhood. It does so through a detailed study of the full range of different EU instruments available to support human rights improvements and democratic reform in Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Ukraine, Belarus and Azerbaijan. The book offers detailed studies of the extent to which democracy and human rights commitments made under European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) action plans and the national bilateral assistance programmes of EU member states are being implemented in practice.
It is hoped that these studies can help move debates on the ‘European model of human rights and democracy promotion’ beyond the general to country-specific operational challenges. The authors identify lessons learned and offer concrete policy recommendations on how the EU can increase the effectiveness of its efforts to promote human rights and democracy in its Neighbourhood and beyond.
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