Everything but Democracy and Human Rights: Effectiveness of European Union Conditionality to Promote Democracy and Human Rights in Cambodia through the Context of the Everything but Arms Partial Withdrawal Procedure.

Cambodia is undergoing profound change in its pursuit of economic development. Respect for human rights and democracy deteriorated in Cambodia post the 2018 General Election. In retaliation, the European Union (EU), Cambodia's second most important export destination, launched the procedure to withdraw Cambodia's preferential trade scheme, the Everything but Arms (EBA), in an attempt to generate economic pressure to encourage democratic reform and respect for human rights principles. In assessing whether this procedure has been successful or not, this paper finds that the EU has not been effective at promoting democracy and human rights in Cambodia through these measures. Not only is the EU's conditionality mechanism flawed, but the EU has also lost much of its leveraging power due to the growing presence of China and actions from the UK to boost trade with Cambodia. Ultimately, the EU's conditionality punishes the wrong groups, and so in effect is a contradiction of what the EU is trying to achieve in opening space for democracy and the improvement of human rights principles for the people of Cambodia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]