Wednesday, June 26, 2013
C0.23 (Oudemanhuispoort)
In the past 18 months, first over Libya and subsequently over Syria, there has been an unprecedented degree of meetings, exchange of views and coordination between the League of the Arab States and the European Union (EU). Such growing Euro-Arab coordination of action stands in sharp contrast with the currently otherwise rather sterile Euro-Mediterranean landscape. The Union for the Mediterranean launched under the French EU Presidency appeared to hold much promise at the start but, apart from ritualistically held meetings, has essentially come to a standstill. The EU has also tried through its European Neighborhood Policy to reach out to those countries on the southern Mediterranean rim which have put their authoritarian past behind or undertaken meaningful political reform, but most analysts coincide upon finding such outreach awkward and its methodology outdated in the post-Arab Spring setting. Perhaps then, in absence of progress on other fronts it is increasingly true that “[t]he EU's relations with the LAS are essential for our engagement in our common neighbourhood,”[1]in the words of EU’s High Representative Catherine Ashton. Perhaps there is no wonder either that the December 2011 Council of Ministers has expressed an interest in exploring “ways of giving the EU-Arab League dialogue a more visible and engaged format.” This paper will explore whether we are witnessing a revival of the Euro-Arab Dialogue or a new departure in Euro-Arab relations. What prospects based on current cooperation are there for a formal institutionalized collaboration between the two regional entities?
[1] Ashton, Catherine (2012) Statement by High Representative Catherine Ashton following her meeting with Nabil Al Araby, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, A 134/12, Brussels, 20 March 2012.
