Focusing on the Euro-Mediterranean relations since the early 1990s, this paper
investigates in how far the EU has been able to shape its relations with third
countries according to its democracy promotion policy. The paper traces the
evolution of the EU’s provisions for democracy promotion and compares the
implementation of political dialogue and democracy assistance with seven
(semi-)authoritarian regimes (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria,
and Tunisia) since the early 1990s. A clear regional trend to more intensive
cooperation lends credibility to the claim that the EU possesses a certain
agenda setting power in international relations. A systematic comparison
across countries and over time explores the explanatory power of
interdependence, political liberalisation, and statehood for the remaining
country variation. The paper finds that the degree of political liberalisation
in target countries is the most important scope condition for cooperation in
the field of democracy promotion and points to the need of further
investigating (domestic) factors to account for the EU’s differential
‘normative power’ in international relations