The Euro-Mediterranean challenge : democratisation or good governance?

Abstract

The EU’s Mediterranean initiatives have their strong and weak points. For that reason some recently proposed policy directions are worthy of close scrutiny. The first, which however will not be analysed at length here, concerns the interface between the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) and the new Neighbourhood Policy as well as the Strategic Partnership with the countries of the Middle East which was announced last June. Has the EMP been devoured by the Neighbourhood Policy so that in fact we are living in the post-EMP stage already? Many are confounded by this uncertainty and the EU needs to clarify the position as soon as possible in order to ensure greater transparency of goals and perhaps improved decisiveness in action. The second issue which shall be analysed at more length here is that as a result of modest policy achievements in the Mediterranean region, that have often been judged to fall short of projected targets, the EU seems to be constantly groping for useful conceptual tools that would extricate its initiatives from the morass of ineffectiveness. Prescriptions are often discarded as quickly as they are prepared. Rather heroically last year the Commission was proposing mainstreaming human rights in its policies towards the Mediterranean region in an aggressive manner. Recent Commission proposals seem to suggest that the EU ought to pursue good governance first. Does this entail that democratic reforms and main-streaming democracy have taken a back seat in the Commission’s approach to the Mediterranean? What is the position of the member states? What the Commission seems to be suggesting is that the EU should first pursue good governance and democracy may or may not follow afterwards.