Abstract

The paper investigates how the cooperation of European institutions (EU, CoE, and OSCE) in democracy promotion affects the success of European conditionality on party financing in East European neighboring countries. It examines the two major European level factors, the determinacy of requirements and the rewards, based on the case study of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia and a cross-case comparative analysis before and during Action Plans’ period. The paper shows that there exists a European level influence on party financing changes in line with the European standards set by the Venice Commission. Also, the cooperation of European
institutions in democracy promotion contributes to the success of the common European leverage in the field of party financing. Although EU lacks a specific party financing conditionality in Action Plans, the reference to the standards set by CoE and OSCE indirectly increases the determinacy of its requirements and offers domestic elites a clearer picture of its demands. At the same time, EU’s merit in the joint European influence on party financing is its increased leverage on aspiring European members, even in the case of a low credibility of EU membership.