The Use of Political Conditionality in the EU’s Relations with Third Countries: How Effective?

To analyze the effectiveness of the EU’s use of conditionality, two questions in particular must be answered. Firstly, by using conditionality, does the EU reach its objective of encouraging respect for human rights and democratic principles? Answering this, however, is difficult and will not be attempted here. Some states may have been implementing democratic reforms or improving their human rights performance anyway; others may be impervious to outside influence. The EU’s influence would have to be isolated from that of other international or domestic actors. Before the question can be fully answered, another question must be addressed. To what extent does the EU actually apply conditionality? The success of the EU’s attempts to encourage countries to respect human rights and democratize will, to a certain extent, depend on how consistently the EU actually follows its own pronouncements. Perceived inconsistency in the EU’s application of conditionality could diminish its influence. As a first cut at analyzing the effectiveness of conditionality, this paper will examine how far considerations of human rights and democracy have influenced the EU’s relations with third countries.