Should the EU sanction member countries with authoritarian governments?

Up to own country not relevant

No, as it would encourage this country to move further away from the EU, and closer to our opponents.

It is not our business to decide the policies of an institution or organisation that we are not a member of.

This is a complicated question of foreign policy and isn't suited to a thoughtful answer by a layman.

No, sanctions should be illegal under international law and only hurt the people, but those countries should receive diplomatic pressure to modernize.

Depends on their actions within the wider world. Authoritarian regimes will always find ways round sanctions.

It depends on the exact circumstances. Authoritarian government's can serve citizens better than some democracies.

The EU shouldn’t have any authority over it’s member countries outside of instances where those countries are actively harming their citizens or others

Yes if they pose a threat to human rights and are causing military, economic, humanitarian, medical or ethical harm outside of their own territory or other territories

Difficult question - if the said country was our ally it could pose or engender more problems if sanctions were taken against them. Sensitivity needs to be employed here.

This is much more complicated than this question implies. How would we define and authoritarian government impartially?

It depends… probably not as this will most likely encourage said country to remove further ties with EU

Depends on the regime!

no because the uk should be focusing on its own social reforms and problems rather than policing other countries

Depends on what the government is doing, is the country still free. Did they get voted in? Can they be voted out?

Yes, but only if there has been a legal process where they have been found in breach of EU regulations, International Law or ECHR.

Risk of EU becoming authoritarian government too. Yes in sense don't encourage but unsure on basis of it being EU bloc itself doing the penalising

They will have different opinions about what is authoritian so it will be chaos. It's not a British problem anymore!

No, the measurement of authoritarian is fear mongering and not always true. It should only be on the direct negative actions that a country may take (such as war), where they should be sanctioned.

Who is to decide what's authoritarian government? It's a slippery slope to fav ones over others depending who is at the steering wheel

Yes, but not if it causes suffering to its citizens such as the sanctions against Iraq caused after the illegal invasion by the US

Only where there are severe breaches of human rights. If the Authoritarian government was elected democratically then no one should intervene

No so long as they are elected freely by the population and do not pose real threat to other sovereign states

Yes if on balance, the sanctions don't harm the people of that country more than they hurt the regime.

A country shouldn’t be sanctioned for being authoritarian they should be sanctioned if their actions while in power warrant it

No because they may use it to country's they don't agree with and list them as authoritarian government

Depends on the government, country or state, circumstances and or values, and how authoritarian. If extremely fascist then yes.

They should have warnings and given support to dismantle authoritarian governments, and if this does not work then they should be expelled from the EU.

It should try to influence better treatment of peoples within such systems in exchange for non militaristic assistance.

Yes but only if they have committed human rights violations

Only if those governments have violated the rights of their citizens.

I do not understand.

We should not get involved in the politics of other countries, we should only intervene for natural disasters, genocide or indiscriminate attacks.

Particularly authoritarian governments with human rights violations (though they tend to go hand in hand, it's the violations that matter more than the form of government)

Yes, but I think it would be more effective to have a mechanism in place to be able to remove those countries from the EU.

Yes, in principle, however in cases where a government is in power with authoritarian leanings that entered power through constitutional means should not be penalised for not aligning to our own political beliefs.

I believe attempts should be made to cripple government of authoritarian regimes, whilst ensuring the citizens do not suffer in the meantime.

Depends on the will of the people in said country. IF the EU were to offer a vote of no confidence to residents of the affected country and it was deemed the people do not want their government, then the EU could look into sanctions to "encourage" further democratisation of the member state.

Yes, but in the form of providing an independent referendum for the citizens of that country to vote if they wish to remain authoritarian. Therefore giving the final choice to that country's citizens.

Sanctions only effect the poorest in said authoritarian country, the autocratic leaders will not care about their peoples suffering.

Yes, the EU is built on a peace project of democracy in Europe following the horrors of WW2, we should discourage dictatorships arising and punish those regimes who violate their democracy

Yes, unless that have similar political ideologies to the UK

The EU shouldn't accept authoritarian governments

Yes, but the sanctions should be carried out in a way that would not worsen our future relations with any countries that might come out of authoritarian governments.

Yes we should encourage it especially on countries like Iran, Russia

No, but they should do actions against them.

Depends on how well the economy is doing/how well the people are being treated

Only sanction governments that commit human rights abuse.

only ones with extreme human rights issues

Exclusion isn’t always the way for progression in society. However sometimes it is necessary

i think it depends on the human and civil rights within the country, and their approach to peace and order.

No, reducing citizens standards of living via sanctions would make them resent the EU and move further from Western democratic ideology

only if there are human right violations

Yes, and member states should be kicked out of the EU if they do not obtain free country status within 5 years.

Sanctions should only be used as a last resort when a country is attempting to frustrate the will of the rest of europe or refuses to comply with the basic membership requirements.

No, what one country's government considers authoritarian may not reflect the will or experience of a foreign populace.

It depends if they are preventing social progress or are actively undermining international treaties. One person's version of authoritarian may be different to another

Only if this government is violating human rights. Then they should be suspended from the EU until further action is taken against said government

No, this can be abused politically

Yes, and countries that fail to meet even basic criteria should be expelled

Yes, only if it wasn’t democratically elected by its citizens, violates human rights, or acts aggressively against another county and incites war.

The people of those nations should be aided to topple these government rather than sanctioning and causing suffering.

The EU should concentrate on the EU and leave the global decisions to the global community to police. Also, their definition of 'authoritarian' is suspect, so a global definition should be decided by the global community.

Who decides what is authoritarian- we in Uk are lied to and manipulated rather than clear force - coercive control rather than brute force !

Only if there is evidence that they are deliberately undermining us and/or carrying out violent attacks on us. Otherwise it's none of our business.

Yes but with a focus on governments that implement Sexist, Homophobic or racist polices. For example sentencing all gays to death or banning a person based on there religion

I dint think the fact a regime is authoritarian is the basses but perhaps the actions of the government

No! The EU should not be trusted to be arbiters of what constitutes an authoritarian government. The EU was instigated as nothing more than a protectionist trading bloc and it should have never been allowed the right to interfere with sovereign national constitutional issues in member states.

No, and the EU should be disbanded

No, the focus should be on whether the uphold core human rights values and principles rather than if they are democratic enough.

Yes but only with an overwhelming majority of nations accept to proscribing that label.

As the UK is no longer a member of the EU I do not have an opinion on the EU nor its sanctions.

Doesn’t interest me either way

I think every country should be looked at differently.

I think they should be less inclined to help them

Only if they are very very extreme and harmful to their citizens or a danger to other countries

Up until a certain point of authoritarianism

Yes if it doesn’t directly affect citizens of the country

The EU should only sanction authoritarian governments if they are not elected and are affecting other member countries negatively.

No, EU should not have the power to sanction member countries

No but they should be closely monitored

No, unless it can be proven they were not democratically elected

Depends on the requirements to be defined as authoritarian

No, the definitions of authoritarianism are too broad.

The EU is not an authoritarian body.

Only if human rights are violated

Yes if the authoritarian regime is one that persecutes minority groups

Depends on what they are doing

No opinion, a matter for member countries of the EU.

Yes, as long as EU citizens can vote on who is on the EU Commission.

Yes, but only if they are abusing the rights of their citizens.

The eu should be abolished

The Eu can do whatever it wants but Britain should only sanction warmongering countries or countries with terrorist governments like the Taliban in Afghanistan

Not enough information to agree or disagree

No, as long as a standard of human rights and freedom is still adhered to

I don't think there should be an EU.

If the government is democratic election no

Depends on whether they have broken international law or EU law that requires sanctions.

only when the authortarian government is threatening and impeding on the lives of citizens and remving thier human rights