NCJ Number
230868
Journal
Global Crime Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2010 Pages: 122-144
Date Published
May 2010
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This article sheds light on the European Union's (EU) efforts to facilitate the fight against corruption and promote good governance through the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).
Abstract
The analysis shows that the level of corruption in the Eastern Neighborhood is strongly connected to the success of democratic and economic reforms. The ENP theoretically corresponds to the complex nature of the phenomenon by placing equal emphasis on strengthening state institutions, restructuring the economy, and pushing for democratic reforms. As the EU, however, by and large seeks cooperation with state actors and pursues a 'one-size-fits-all' approach mostly based on 'soft' mechanisms such as socialization and capacity-building, the implementation of politically sensitive reforms seems to be unlikely. Moreover, the EU potentially allows its partner governments to 'pick and chose' from the overall reform agenda and evade real political and economic change towards better governance. Tables and figure (Published Abstract)