The Arab Spring in Comparative Perspective
These political, social and structural impediments go a long way towards explaining the low level of economic and cultural integration amongst the European and Mediterranean countries. The lack of a unifying political vision and the large economic and political differences between different parts of the Mediterranean region further contributed to this Mediterranean exception. As a result, the Mediterranean today appears as a region without regionalism, which has little potential or political weight of its own. But still, despite these serious obstacles to closer regional cooperation, recent developments suggest renewed support for regional integration between Europe and the Mediterranean. The idea of a Euro-Mediterranean Partnership started to take shape only in 1992, when European Union countries, represented by France, Italy and Spain, issued a document called the “Mediterranean Renovated Policy”, which included many aspects of financial cooperation and support for the structural reforms of the southern Mediterranean, and the start of a policy of openness and reform economies. Association agreements including FTAs have since been concluded with most of the Euromed partners and the European Neighbourhood Policy has added the perspective of “deep and comprehensive” FTAs for some of them in the framework of the 2011 ENP revision.
FTAs are largely seen as individual initiatives through which the EU can play out its tremendous trade advantage and they have done little to foster regional integration efforts. It also remains a fact that an integration model such as the EU cannot simply be transferred to another region, as in each regional case local and unique factors are at play that are different from the European experience. In this context, the best policy for the EU to pursue is to keep its own house in order as this will ensure that the European model remains alive. Policy-Oriented Proposals 1. Promote trans-regional research programmes on EU-Mediterranean-Asia relations: including expected impact of the creation on new (DC)FTAs between the three regions;
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Looking at both the GCC and Asia, it can be said that rather than the EU’s pursuit of FTAs as a means to help stabilise the partner countries’ economies or political systems, it is the EU’s own integration process and its respective strength and health that serves as the inspiration for other regions to follow the EU model and try to implement integration strategies themselves.