increasing the relevance of differences between governments, social groups and civil society actors. While various

debates have emerged in the wake of the EU’s response to the Arab uprisings, the possibility that the EU might have

acted as a driver of such fragmentation and polarization has not been explored yet. To probe such a provocative

hypothesis, it is necessary to look in a more detailed and systematic way at the different policy areas in which the EU

has engaged with its Southern Mediterranean neighbours, ranging from trade to democracy promotion, from migration

to financial reform. This disaggregation provides an opportunity to understand whether, to what degree and how the EU

might have contributed to increased fragmentation and polarisation in the region. This symposium aims to shed light on

these issues by investigating the reasons behind EU policies (why), the ways in which the EU contributes to such

outcome (how), and the impact that its policies have on the ground (what). Its driving questions will thus be: How have

material, institutional, political and ideational factors influenced EU policies? How have the EU’s practices of selective

engagement with local actors taken shape in each policy area and what has changed in comparison to the pre-Arab

Spring period? What is the impact of EU policies on maintaining or strengthening fragmentation and polarization in the

region?