The Politics of Foreign Aid and the European Neighbourhood Policy Post-Arab Spring: ‘More for More’ or Less of the Same?

Abstract

This contribution assesses the practices of EU aid to Arab countries in the Mediterranean in the post-Arab spring context, and in particular the role of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). It looks at the institutional practices relevant to EU foreign policy vis-à-vis Arab countries, the main ENP policy tenets (often summarized in the ‘more for more’ motto) and the financial practices of committing and disbursing funds on the ENP Instrument. It shows that while there has been a proliferation of institutional actors and a nominal increase in the amount of funds available, the policy tenets did not change and the rate of funds disbursed actually worsened – a situation better described as ‘less of the same’.

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to the public officials who confidentially shared their views and their expertise on this subject. They asked not to be named, but I know I owe them. Moreover, I would like to thank my co-editors for the insightful comments provided, as well as the comments and questions raised at the workshop organized in June 2013 at New York University – La Pietra, especially by my discussant, Philippe Schmitter.

I would also like to gratefully acknowledge the financial contribution of the Department of International Relations of LSE and of the Kevorkian Center for Near East Studies of New York University, as well as the organizational support of New York University – La Pietra. The preliminary workshop would have not been possible without the generous support of these institutions.

Notes

^1. Joint Communication to the European Council, the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Brussels, 8 March 2011, COM(2011)200 final.

^2. Ibid., p. 5.

^3. Ibid., p. 9.

^4. Joint Communication to the European Council, the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Brussels, 25 May 2011, COM(2011)303 final.

^5. Ibid., p. 3.

^6. The European Community is the legal entity on which the EU Single Market is based. Taken from http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/single-market-goods/international-aspects/acaa-neighbouring-countries/index_en.htm (accessed 31 October 2012).

^7. In the past, it was instead a synonym for environment-friendly practices. See the assessments of Euro-Mediterranean relations made by the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development (Blue Plan studies) and Friends of the Earth Middle East.

^8. See e.g. contributions in Galal and Reiffers (2010) Costa-Font (2012).

^9.Final Report of the SIA-EMFTA Project, November 2007, p. 46. The assessments and the Commission's reply are available at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/analysis/sustainability-impact-assessments/assessments/.

^10. The European Endowment for Democracy was formally set up in June 2012 but has been encountering further difficulties before becoming operational.

^11. ‘The European Commission boosts the number of Erasmus Mundus scholarships for South Mediterranean students’, Brussels, 27 September 2011, http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-11-637_en.htm.

^12. E.g. ‘Programme d’Appui au Développement des Zones Défavorisées, Fiche Action pour la Tunisie', worth €20 million and funded by the European Commission. See more at http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/documents/aap/2011/af_aap-spe_2011_tun.pdf.

^13. Source: EuropeAid, http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/country-cooperation/morocco/morocco_en.htm (accessed 26 June 2013).

^14. A. Galal and J.-L. Reiffers, Towards a New Med Region: Achieving Fundamental Transitions, FEMISE Report on the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership 2011, p. 17.

^15. Ibid.

^16. Document de travail conjoint des services, ‘Mise en oeuvre de la Politique Européenne de Voisinage en Tunisie, Progrès réalisés en 2011 et actions à mettre en oeuvre’, Bruxelles, 15 May 2012, SWD(2012) 123 final.

^17. ‘Middle East and North Africa: Historic Transitions under Strain’, IMF Regional Economic Outlook Update, 20 April 2012, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/reo/2012/mcd/eng/pdf/mena-update0412.pdf.

^18. Source: EU Budget 2012, part II, p. 822.

^19. For an overview, see Gillespie (2013).

^20. Commission Implementing Decision, C(2011)6828, Brussels, 29 September 2011, p. 1. The budget line for SPRING is 19 08 01 01.

^21. See Fawaz Gerges (2013).