Paper

The ENP between Ambitions and Delusions: Analysing Europe’s Misconceptions in Supporting Democratisation in Egypt

November 2016

Abstract

Through the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP), the EU has presented itself since 1995 as a normative actor in its southern neighbourhood. However, the Arab uprisings in general and the Egyptian one in particular have triggered questions with regard to the efficiency of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The EU was neither able to anticipate these events nor capable of influencing them. Therefore, three major revision documents were issued by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission in 2011 and 2015. Hence, with a special focus on Egypt, this paper examines the content, tools and targets of the EU’s policy for supporting democratisation and political reforms in the Mediterranean countries and formulates proposals to maximize its impact.

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