De la Asociación Euro-mediterránea a la politica europea de vecindad: ¿una nueva presión europea para la democratización en Marruecos?

At the beginning of the XXIst century the EU is one of the most important international actors in the field of democracy promotion toward third states, and it is widely recognized that it has succeeded in favouring a fast democratization of candidate countries, through the main instrument of conditionality and the incentive of membership. In this working paper I compare the EU strategy of democracy promotion in the framework of the Barcelona process, with the same strategy in the context of the new ENP, to delineate the main similarities and differences, and to assess whether it is possible to talk of a new European pressure for democratization in the Southern Mediterranean. The analysis takes into consideration the particular case of Morocco, a North African country that has experienced some political liberalization, and that has always sought a closer relation with the EU, although its little chance of ever joining the Union. The paper argues that, notwithstanding the rhetoric of the ENP, the intention of the Union seems to be to continue its traditional policy towards the Southern Mediterranean, limited to achieving partial political reform rather than a genuine democratization.