THE REVOLUTIONS IN THE ARAB WORLD AND THE EUROPEAN UNION: CHALLENGES AND EXPECTATIONS

The popular uprisings in the Arab world took everybody by surprise. For more than 15 years the European Union had invested in economic cooperation and in democratisation processes in the Arab countries in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, the European Neighbourhood Policy and since 2008 the Union for the Mediterranean. It was a moderate success; dramatic changes were neither expected nor sincerely wished for out of fear that they may cause instability and chaos in the region. In the light of the recent events EU’s policy towards its southern neighbours is facing a barrage of criticism. According to its critics in the Arab world and Europe alike, the EU has lost its credibility by applying double standards when dealing with the corrupt and authoritarian regimes in the region and for not speaking out in support of the protesters fast and clear enough. In its  recent proposal for a Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity” the Commission suggests an incentive-based approach and the (re)introduction of positive conditionality. In other words: those countries which go faster and further with their reforms can count on greater EU support. Is this proposal a serious rethink of EU policy or is it just a ‘re-packaging of existing EU policies’ as critics argue?

Speakers:
- Isabel Schäfer, Senior Researcher in International Relations and  Mediterranean Studies at the Humboldt University, Berlin
-  Merete Bilde, European External Action Service (tbc)
-  Bassma Kodmani, Executive Director of the Arab Reform Initiative, Paris
-  Rouba Al-Fattal Eeckelaert , Vice-President and Co-Founder of the EuroArab Forum, Brussels

Moderator:
Claude Weinber, director Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union