Promoting Democracy in the Neighborhood : The European Union and Moldova

Abstract

The European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) has since 2003 been the main framework within which the EU seeks to tackle a number of new security threats, such as illegal migration, international organized crime and trafficking in human beings, drugs and weapons. Central to the EU s approach to secure a stable neighborhood is the support of democratic reform in neighboring states. It is argued that the ENP to a large extent is an attempt at widening the reach of the instruments of political conditionality and socialization that were successfully applied in the eastern enlargement process. The main incentive for the applicants to reform the prospect of becoming an EU member is however missing in the ENP. Firstly, this thesis seeks to assess whether the EU is succeeding in promoting democracy in Moldova. It is argued that the results have been modest at best. Secondly, the lacking results are sought explained by the varying presence of a number of necessary preconditions for both conditionality and socialization.