Good Governance and Bad Neighbours. The End of Transformative Power Europe?

Börzel, Tanja A. and van Hullen, Vera. (2011) Good Governance and Bad Neighbours. The End of Transformative Power Europe? [Conference Proceedings]

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Abstract

The Eastern Enlargement of the European Union (EU) is considered to be one of the (few) successful experiments of international democracy promotion. By contrast, the EU’s transformative power appears to be weak or non-existent vis-à-vis its (old) neighbours in the South and its (new) neighbours in the East. Both are not only marked by “bad governance” but also lack a (credible) membership perspective. While the Western Balkans and Turkey have made significant progress towards good governance, both with regard to effectiveness and democratic legitimacy, the European Neighbourhood Countries (ENC) appear to be stuck in transition or never got that far in the first place. Most have improved the effectiveness of governance institutions, but their democratic quality is still wanting or even in decline. This paper explores whether a membership perspective could turn around the negative trend in the EU’s neighbourhood of more statehood and less democracy, and if not, to what extent the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) provides an alternative. We will argue that the transformative effect of accession conditionality is still unclear. The prospects of EU membership stabilize rather than drive the move towards effective and democratic governance in candidate countries. Even if the ENC received a membership perspective, it would be unlikely to push them towards democracy. The ENP may lack any transformative power, but still has some domestic impact consolidating rather than undermining authoritarian regimes by helping to strengthen their capacities for effective governance.

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