EU Leverage, Conditionality, and Pathways to Autocratization

Abstract

This panel explores the evolving capacity of the European Union to shape democratic trajectories through leverage, conditionality, and internal governance, focusing on both candidate countries and EU member states. While EU enlargement and integration have historically relied on conditionality as a primary tool for promoting democracy and the rule of law, recent developments raise fundamental questions about its effectiveness, sustainability, and unintended consequences in an era of democratic backsliding and autocratization.

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