ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on double standards in the European Union (EU)’s European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) towards autocratic regimes. For decades prior to the popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in late 2010, the EU had actively supported the autocratic leaders in the region, despite the explicit commitment to democracy and human rights as the foundation of the ENP. Moreover, as of 2008, the EU also embarked on a policy of pragmatic engagement with the Lukashenka regime in Belarus – often regarded as the ‘last dictatorship in Europe’– as part of enhanced relations under the ENP and Eastern Partnership (EaP) policies. As a result, the ENP has been criticized for its inherent double standards, promoting democracy and human rights in theory, and actively seeking to cooperate with autocratic leaders on issues of ‘common concern’ in practice.
