Non-democracy tolerance: Venezuela in Mercosur and Hungary in the European Union

Regional integration organizations (RIOs) have long been an important mechanism for cooperation among States. With their ever- closer ties, concerns about the regimes of the States involved have led RIOs to adopt norms for sanctions or suspension from these organizations when irregular regime changes occur, or governments become undemocratic. This article reflects on the development and enforcement of these tools based on two major cases for Europe and Latin America: the case of Venezuela in Mercosur and Hungary in the European Union. The conclusion is not supposed to plainly label processes as “succeeded” or “failed” but rather to provide observations on mutual learning through case studies to better reflect on the design of institutions, norms, adaptation, and political constraints to its enforcement.