The Copenhagen hope: on democracy in the EU

... see itself as a normative power, one that sets and promotes the norm - that is, of course, the basic values: democracy, the rule of law, and human rights including the rights of minorities - if one or more of its members, and therefore the Union as such,... ... can’t simply cut off the rotten bit, either. There is no mechanism to eject a state from the EU, nor should there be one. The Copenhagen Dilemma was ignored precisely because no-one considered it a vaguely realistic scenario. There is one, only one tool ...