European Responses to Moments of Democratic Opportunity

International democracy-support organisations have spent two decades grappling with unfavourable trends and various types and degrees of democratic regression. In doing so, they have neglected to design strategies for responding to moments of democratic opportunity. Even though the general state of global democracy has worsened, there have been some positive democratic breakthroughs or reversals of authoritarian trends. In several countries, a period of democratic erosion has given way to more positive democratic dynamics.

The nature of such reversals varies enormously across countries, and not all of them lead to a sustained process of democratisation. Yet, their occurrence is significant and merits closer attention. This report examines how the European Union (EU) has responded to moments of democratic opportunity and suggests how it could seize their potential more fully in the future.