The EU’s governance transfer : from external promotion to internal protection?

摘要

Whether the European Union (EU) really lives up to its image of “transformative power” is stillan open empirical question. There is no doubt that the EU has been active in setting and promotingnorms that go far beyond the objective of regional economic integration. It prescribesand promotes standards for national governance institutions related to democracy, humanrights, and the rule of law. However, in comparison to other regional organizations, the EUused to focus on the transformation of domestic governance institutions beyond rather thanwithin its borders, targeting accession candidates, neighboring countries, and third statesalike. Only recently did the EU start to develop policies and instruments explicitly aimingto protect the same norms and values within its own member states that it seeks to transferexternally. This paper traces the evolution of the EU’s external and internal governance transfer.While the external dimension is still better developed institutionally, regional integrationprovides the EU with effective policies and instruments to protect its fundamental valueswithin the member states.