Questioning Norm Diffusion in the EU’s Aid to Countries in Transition

This article questions the circulation of norms and policy solutions through the European Union’s development cooperation policy, the relations between the EU and its partners being less marked by constraints than with candidate countries. Our analysis focuses on the concrete aspect of this policy, by studying human rights and rule of law promotion through prison reform projects funded by the EU in its partner states, mainly from the neighbourhood. The agents must translate soft law into actions that will make up the project. Ultimately, the circulation we observe in these projects is far from obvious, but rather fine and dependent on interindividual relationships. As a result we contend that this circulation should be considered as diffusion rather than transfer.