Archive / Working Paper
Ten years of the Barcelona Process: a model for supporting Arab Reform?
14/01/2005 By Richard Youngs
Ten years on from its creation, the Barcelona process has developed a distinctive but so far ineffectual approach to fostering political change in the authoritarian regimes of the southern Mediterranean.
The EU has eschewed direct and critical political engagement to further Arab democratisation, in favour of support for the indirect dynamics conditioning potential reform. Since the attacks of 9/11 this indirect approach has if anything become more marked.
The European Neighbourhood Policy introduces the prospect of a more targeted approach to arab political reform, but the design of those very aspects that give it this potential so far remain unduly vague. Moreover, some aspects of recent EU approaches towards security sit more uneasily with the declared aim of supporting political liberalisation in the Arab world.
The paper argues that the proclaimed strengths of the Barcelona process’s approach have yet to be tangibly demonstrated. With preparations for the partnership’s tenth anniversary summit now underway, a more critical reassessment is needed of how far Barcelona’s widely presumed successes weather scrutiny.
Trends in EU policy point towards quantitative improvements to the Barcelona process; more qualitative change is also warranted if the partnership is to prove relevant to supporting political reform in the Arab world.
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Keywords
Barcelona Process European Neighbourhood Policy European Union Middle East and North Africa Political ReformRelated publications
Bio author: Richard Youngs
Democracy promotion. EU foreign policy.
