From policy to regime: Trends in Euro‐Mediterranean governance

The post‐Cold War (dis)order has lent great fluidity and instability to the Euro‐Mediterranean international (sub)system, which was not well equipped in terms of policies, competencies and institutions to transcend such complexity. This essay traces the origins of the Euro‐Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) and examines whether the EMP will be empowered through mechanisms and institutions to manage Euro‐Mediterranean relations. It focuses on the period since 1995, when the European Union (EU) has been investing in its Mediterranean policy more seriously. The essay conceptualises the EMP as an international regime in statu nascendi, and explores the properties and dynamics of Euro‐Mediterranean governance. The essay concludes that international regime theory provides a useful set of conditions for regional order‐building and the successful institutionalisation of Euro‐Mediterranean relations.