Democracy beyond the Rhetoric and the Emergence of the "EU Prince": The Case of EU-Ukrainian Relations. Bruges Political Research Papers No. 17, December 2010

The aim of this paper is to respond to Thomas Diez‘s call for more reflexivity in the notion of EU normative power. The case study concerns how the EU defines its role in its relationship with Ukraine: Is it shaped by value considerations, namely by the normative ideal of democracy promotion? Or do self-interests prevail in the framing of EU decisions? Historical analysis, in-depth interviews as well as discourse analysis reveal that the EU‘s rhetoric on the value of democracy is often contradicted by the predominance of EU‘s self-interests. Moreover, the EU‘s attempt to disguise its strategic goals by making broad, vague and declarative statements leads to the conclusion that the EU resembles more and more the ―Machiavellian prince‖ who has to present a lofty image of himself and of his ventures