From the EMP to the ENP: A new European pressure for democratization?

The EU is one of the most important international actors in the field of democracy promotion toward third states, and it is widely recognised that it succeeded in facilitating a fast democratisation of Greece, Spain and Portugal in the middle 1970s and early 1980s, and more recently in Central and Eastern European countries, through the main instrument of conditionality and the incentive of membership.This study compares the EU strategy of democracy promotion in the framework of the Barcelona process, with the same strategy in the context of the new European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), to delineate the main similarities and differences. Then, focusing on the case study of Morocco, I assess whether it is possible to talk of new Euro- pean pressure for democratisation in the Southern Mediterranean.