European unio‎n Conditionality: Coercion or Voluntary Adaptation?

Research on the enlargement conditionality of the European unio‎n sustains opposite positions on the question of whether it represents a means of coercion or an invitation to voluntary adaptation. However, it reveals no dialogue between advocates of these opposed views. In an attempt to replace this gap in communication with a research agenda, this article undertakes a theoretical investigation of the main arguments for regarding compliance with conditionality either as an effect of coercion or as a voluntary choice. It is found that both of these views are worth taking seriously but also that they are premature and in need of further theoretical and in particular empirical clarification. It is suggested, moreover, that coercion and voluntary adaptation are best viewed as complementary rather than competing descriptions of complying with conditionality.