Assessing EU Aid to the ‘Southern Partners’ of the European Neighbourhood Policy: Who Benefits from the Reforms in the Agricultural and Industrial Sector?

Abstract

This article critically assesses the claims of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) to support the economic development of ‘southern rim’ states. By amending Putnam's two-level game analysis, the paper exposes the interactions between domestic, national and supranational actors and demonstrates the outcomes of the ENP reforms in the agricultural and industrial sectors. Particular attention is given to the contribution of the ENP to the development of a dual agricultural market in these countries and to the effects of standardization for North African businesses. The article concludes by arguing that in both case studies, and despite the changes brought by the ‘Arab Spring’, (recalibrated) elites still retain established vertical ties with domestic businesses (especially small and medium-sized enterprises)—a situation that benefits certain EU industrial and agricultural companies as well.

Keywords:

• Arab Spring
• European Union
• North Africa
• agricultural reforms
• standardization
• Putnam
• two-level game analysis
• Morocco
• Tunisia

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on Contributor

Christos Kourtelis is a teaching fellow of European Studies at the Department of European and International Studies at King's College London. ([email protected])

Notes

1 Out of the 220 of Ben Ali's firms that were confiscated only seven operated in the food sector. The other firms mainly focused on real estate, telecommunications and various other services (Rijkers, Freund, and Nucifora 2014). Thus the focus on this paper is how the ENP reforms benefited primarily the large food producers at the expense of small farmers.

2 The privatization of state companies and state-owned land began in the mid-1980s. Yet the focus of this analysis is on the impact of privatization projects after the beginning of the ENP.

3 EUREPGAP was established in 1997 as a private initiative of retailers belonging to the Euro-Retailer Produce Working Group. It demonstrates good agricultural practices and ensures access to the EU market.

4 The priority sectors for the two countries are the following: electrical appliances and building materials for Tunisia. Construction products, electrical appliances, pressure equipment, medical devices for Morocco (European Commission 2009b, 2011b).