Dynamics of Convergence and Differentiation in Euro-Mediterranean Relations: Towards Flexible Region-Building or Fragmentation?

Abstract

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership was conceived as a regional endeavour to promote approximation in a wide number of policy domains. However, despite this holistic and geographically encompassing approach, differentiation dynamics have been the order of the day in EU relations with the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries. This article contributes to theoretical and practical debates on whether differentiation dynamics aid or hinder policy convergence processes and region-building efforts more widely. It does so by conceptualizing the various types of differentiation dynamics in Euro-Mediterranean relations and discussing how they are linked to different paths and degrees of regionalization.

Acknowledgements

The Guest Editors are grateful to the participants of the workshop ‘Assessing Policy Convergence in the Euro-Mediterranean Area: Norms, Processes, Outcomes’, which took place in May 2009 in Barcelona and led to this Special Issue. We are especially indebted to the experts who provided detailed advice on the analytical framework and on the different articles in this collection. In this regard we are particularly grateful to Haizam Amirah Fernández, Senén Florensa, Patricia García-Duran, Iván Martín, Michal Natorski and Tobias Schumacher. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the whole research team of the EUPROX project for its dedicated work over three intense and fruitful years. None of this would have been possible without the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) of Spain, the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of Catalonia and the Cidob Foundation. Finally, we are grateful for the helpful comments by an anonymous referee and the Editors of this journal.

Notes

¹ We use the acronym SEMC as this Special Issue covers countries of both North Africa and the Middle East, as well as Turkey. The term MPC can be used to refer to the countries that participate in the EMP. More generally, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) can also be used to refer to the region.

² On the distinction between policy convergence on the basis of EU, international and bilaterally-developed rules, see Barbé et al. (2009a,b).

³ We are grateful to Tobias Schumacher for this pertinent reflection.