Geopolitics and democracy in the European Neighbourhood Policy

A standard criticism of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is that it has adopted a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Analysts routinely admonish the EU for pursuing an overly uniform policy, using similar instruments for virtually identical aims across countries that are radically different from each other. Critics argue that it makes little sense to follow the same set of policy recipes in the eastern neighbourhood as those that are prioritized in the South. ¹ The EU has gradually acknowledged these criticisms, most notably since the Arab uprisings. The ENP reviews since then have promised that principles of ‘more for more’ and ‘differentiation’ will guide future policy development (European Commission and High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy 2011, 2015). These principles suggest that the EU will begin to make more significant distinction between East and South, and differentiate its strategies within each sub-region. This formally recognizes the reality that Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova want closer relations with the Union and to adopt many EU rules, while Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus do not; and it accepts that among Arab states only Tunisia and Morocco appear to be interested in the standard range of ENP instruments and incentives.