scholarly journals The EU Democratisation of The Southern Neighbours Since the “Arab Spring”: An Inherently Inadequate Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 89-103
Author(s):  
Naim Mathlouthi
Keyword(s):  
Arab Spring ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Double Standards ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
Mediterranean Countries ◽  
Southern Mediterranean ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Substantial Change ◽  
The Eu

This Article draws on the analysis of historical relations between the European Union and the Southern Mediterranean countries and highlights the main initiatives and consequences of the adopted practices of democratisation in the region following the Arab Uprisings. The main focus is on the continuity and limited changes in the new approach. One of the main findings is that the limited reform of the EU approach primarily resulted from the inherited political constraints. The net result was a set of structured security-orientated relationships that will continue to repeat earlier mistakes before 2011. The mechanisms of democracy promotion including conditionality remained inherently full of contradictions. The double standards in applying the conditionality principle  in addition to the lack of significant leverage rendered the EU democratisation approach of the Southern neighbours inapt. Despite the  2011 ENP review promise of a substantial change in the EU democratisation approach, it seems that the EU’s initial euphoria following the “Arab spring” has waned as it  seems to repeat the same old approach  of  liberalisation and securitisation of the  Southern Mediterranean region rather than democratisation.

scholarly journals The European Union's Mediterranean Policy in the Context of the "Arab Spring"

2014 ◽  
pp. 139-149
Author(s):  
V. A. Latkina
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
Southern Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
The Eu

The article discusses the policy of the European Union aimed at the export of its democratic values, acquis communautaire and governance models to the neighbour countries in the Southern Mediterranean. The process of Europeanization reflects a particular case of global megatrend -democratization which in its turn positioned as democracy promotion through soft power instruments. From the EU point of view the goal of the Barcelona process launched in 1995 was to construct Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and common identity in order to promote democratic transitions in Southern Mediterranean. While the EU Foreign Policy in the Mediterranean region was historically conditioned by the security interests of the European Union, it suffered from securitization/democratization dilemma. The article analyses the process of external Europeanization in the Southern Mediterranean as a regional dimension of global democratization process in the context of Union for the Mediterranean development before and after the Arab Spring and new approach in the framework of the ENP Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity with the Southern Mediterranean. The article proposes that the lack of political strategic vision in the EU toward the Arab democratic transition during 2011-2013 narrows its role as a transformative democratic power, hinders Europeanization/ democratization process in the macro-region of North Africa and Middle East and presents the EU with a new dilemma - to continue its traditional democratization policy or to shift towards a more pragmatic approach to cooperating with new Arab regimes.

scholarly journals Spatial imaginaries and selective in/visibility: Mediterranean neighbourhood and the European Union’s engagement with civil society after the ‘Arab Spring’

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Joachim Bürkner ◽  
James W Scott
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Southern Mediterranean ◽  
Social Modernization ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Civil Societies

As part of a repertoire of the European Union’s (EU’s) geopolitical practices, the imaginary of Mediterranean Neighbourhood is a means with which to manage dissonance between the EU’s self-image as a normative power, changing political situations in the region and the Realpolitik of security. We argue that this also involved a ‘politics of in/visibility’ that promotes democratization and social modernization through structured cooperation while engaging selectively with local stakeholders. In directing attention to EU readings of and responses to the ‘Arab Spring’, we indicate how both a simplification of the issues at stake and highly selective political framings of local civil societies have operated in tandem. Drawing on a review of recent literature on civil society activism in the southern Mediterranean, we specifically deal with Eurocentric appropriations of civil society as a force for change and as a central element in the construction of the Mediterranean Neighbourhood. EU support for South Mediterranean civil society appears to be targeted at specific actors with whom the EU deems it can work: apart from national elites these include well-established, professionalized non-governmental organizations, and westernized elements of national civil societies. As a result, recognition of the heterogeneous and multilocal nature of the uprisings, as well as their causes, has only marginally translated into serious European Neighbourhood Policy reform. We suggest that an inclusive focus on civil society would reveal Neighbourhood as a contact zone and dialogic space, rather than a project upon which the EU is (rather unsuccessfully) attempting to superimpose a unifying narrative of EU-led modernization.

scholarly journals Impacto de los acuerdos de asociación en el comercio Euromediterráneo de frutas y hortalizas

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (13) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
M. Luisa Martí Selva ◽  
José M. García Álvarez-Coque
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Agricultural Trade ◽  
Differentiated Products ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Association Agreement ◽  
Mediterranean Countries ◽  
Southern Mediterranean ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Model Approach

The aim of this research is to discuss a different way to represent the influence of Association Agreements on the agricultural trade between Southern Mediterranean Countries and the European Union in the period 1995-2004. A yearly analysis makes it possible to study trade changes after the Association Agreement between European Union and Southern Mediterranean Countries. For assessment of the Association Agreements, groups of countries with different treatment granted by the EU can separately considered. For these purposes, a gravity model approach could be of help, in particular for differentiated products such as fruits and vegetables.

scholarly journals Supporting rule of law from abroad: a comparative assessment of two post-Arab Spring judicial reforms

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-86
Author(s):  
Gaia Taffoni
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Veto Players ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Normative Pressure ◽  
Court Administration ◽  
Southern Mediterranean ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
External Incentives ◽  
The Arab Spring

AbstractIn the Southern Mediterranean region, the European Union (EU) supports the establishment of rule of law, pressuring for both the adoption of institutional guarantees of judicial independence and the enhancement of court administration capabilities. Drawing on a set of interviews with key EU and domestic actors, this study compares Morocco and Jordan, examining changes adopted at the institutional and administrative level since the ‘Arab Spring’ broke out. The findings show that external incentives for change penetrated only the administrative level of domestic judicial systems, while a path-dependent effect persisted at the institutional level. The evidence confirms the thesis that in areas of low politics even a mere normative pressure is able to drive rule adoption, whereas in more sensitive policy areas, as in the case of institutional judicial guarantees, the higher costs of adaptation make veto players resistant to external influences for change.

Turkey and the EU: A Changed Context

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yale H. Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Foreseeable Future ◽  
Full Member ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
The Eu

In 2005 the European Union (EU) began formally to negotiate Turkey's application to become a full member. Today, the EU is a very different organization, Turkey has also experienced major changes, and the Arab Spring has dramatically impacted the Middle East. In sum, there is a changed context for the evolving relationship between Turkey and the EU. This article explains that context and concludes that, for the foreseeable future, Turkey is unlikely to become a full EU member, although close ties with respect to economic matters and immigration will persist.

The ‘Arab Spring’ and the Extraordinary Influx of People who Arrived in Italy from North Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 341-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Nascimbene ◽  
Bruno Nascimbene ◽  
Alessia Di Pascale
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Management Framework ◽  
Migration Management ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Italian Coasts ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The ‘Arab spring’ which spread in early 2011 and the consequent exceptional influx of people that arrived on the Italian coasts from North Africa put the national reception and asylum systems under particular pressure, also raising the debate on the status to be attributed to these people. Faced with a situation out of the ordinary, Italy immediately addressed a request for help to the European Union, which has revealed the difference of views and mistrust existing between Member States in relation to these issues. This episode also calls into question the scope and effectiveness of the EU migration management framework, particularly in case of strong and unexpected pressure, and its implementation in a true spirit of solidarity.

scholarly journals The EU Response to the 2015 Refugee Flows: A Missed Opportunity to Use the Temporary Protection Directive?

2020 ◽  
pp. 33-52
Author(s):  
Lara Krayem
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Burden Sharing ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Temporary Protection ◽  
Mass Influx ◽  
Jus Cogens ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
Missed Opportunity ◽  
The Eu

Following the mass influx of people in Europe after 2011 and the Arab Spring uprisings, Europe has been admitting refugees into its borders predominantly under the Dublin III Regulation. However, Dublin III was never intended to be an emergency tool for asylum seekers, but became one as most entries take place through irregular routes. Europe received around 1.3 million asylum seekers in 2015 which is the highest number of asylum applications in its history. Questions are raised as to why Europe refrained from using the Temporary Protection Directive which serves exactly the purpose of establishing minimum standards for giving temporary protection and promoting a balance of efforts between Members States when receiving displaced persons. This Directive arguably provides a solution for the burden sharing issues that Europe has been facing which cause the rise of nationalism in many border States such as Italy and Greece as they are the main hosts of asylum seekers. Europe has also been entering into questionable agreements such as the EU-Turkey deal that does not necessarily comply with International Humanitarian Laws or jus cogens principles such as non-refoulement. Europe’s avoidance of the use of the Temporary Protection Directive raises a lot of questions. It brings to the surface the politics that surround the asylum process of the European Union and sheds light on the growing need of the EU to close its borders and avoid offering protection to people in need. This notion of border strengthening controls seems to be growing. As a result, the Union continues to use questionable agreements and the implementation of the Dublin III Regulation as an emergency measure instead of using the Temporary Protection Directive to promote fair sharing and solidarity. This article will examine the reasons behind the non-implementation of the Temporary Protection Directive to demonstrate that Europe does not wish to assist asylum seekers but keep them out of its territory. Moreover, this article supports that the mass influx of asylum seekers during the Arab-Spring uprisings was a missed opportunity to activate the Directive that has now become obsolete as it is unlikely to ever be activated.

History of the European Neighborhood Policy and Eastern Partnership

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Aaron Thomas Walter
Keyword(s):  
Arab Spring ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eastern Partnership ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Southern Mediterranean ◽  
History Of ◽  
European Neighborhood Policy ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
The Arab Spring ◽  
The Eu

The European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) was designed in 2004 to create closer ties between the EU and its eastern and southern neighboring countries. In 2009, the Eastern Partnership (EaP), a joint initiative between the 28 EU Member States and 6 Eastern countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine), was launched on the same basis of supporting area of prosperity and good neighborliness. To understand how the EU engages its neighboring countries in the southern Mediterranean and northern borders and fulfills the EaP in its requirements of security and stability, a history of the ENP and EaP is provided. The following chapter shall also explore the ENP and EaP framework and challenges linked to consequentialism and appropriateness between 2005 and 2017, including new approaches in the aftermath of the Arab Spring and 2015 migration crisis.

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