Excerpt: “Much was made of 2024 being an elections superyear, with an unprecedented number of votes around the world in a twelve-month period. These elections seemed to revive democ- racy in some countries, undermine it in others, and have little systemic impact, positive or negative, in most. In Europe, the year of elections had a more powerful effect on the domestic front than in the realm of foreign policy. Elections reinforced EU concerns over the fragility of democracy in Europe, largely because of the radical right and interference from outside actors. The elections spurred some democracy support engagement outside Europe, although the global wave of votes left a mixed imprint and, overall, did not have the game-changing significance that many reports had predicted at the beginning of 2024. This review outlines the changes to the general context that conditioned European democracy policies before examining developments related to the European Parliament elections and the EU’s new institutional term. It then gives an overview of new democracy-related strategies at the EU level and in European countries. … Next, the review details developments in EU democracy funding, sanctions and political conditionality, and the democracy elements of the union’s security interventions.”
Report (PDF)
(59 pages)