This paper proposes to draw conclusions in the theoretical realm regarding the European Union’s ability to promote democracy in its near neighbourhood, specifically focusing on the continued relevance of the Normative Power Europe framework to the study of the European Union as a normative actor. Drawing on several empirical case studies analyzing the EU’s democratization efforts in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (de Deugd, 2016; Hoen, 2016; Korosteleva, 2011; Misik, 2016; Szent-Ivanyi, 2016), the paper identifies a research puzzle that might prove central for further research on normative power Europe. This research puzzle relates to the existence of an inherent paradox in Europe’s normative power. On the one hand, the idea of Europe as a normative power rests on the EU's democratization efforts in third countries. For the EU to sustain its normative influence, it needs to promote its fundamental norms, including democracy, abroad. On the other hand, to be able to justify its own identity it needs to reiterate this abroad as undemocratic, thereby continuously "othering" it and decreasing the likelihood of its normative transfer being successful. The construction of the EU's identity as democratic, progressive, etc. in opposition to the non-democratic and backward other clashes with the EU's external democratization efforts. We suggest that it is precisely this clash - a normative paradox - that has prevented the EU from logging meaningful policy successes in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans, but also the Maghreb and other regions.
