Ten years after the Arab Spring, a disjointed European policy approach to the region has resulted in the bloc losing influence in the countries in its southern neighbourhood. Researchers argue that the Mediterranean region’s strategic importance to the EU, means that if the Middle East and North Africa is unstable then Europe is unstable. Civil wars in Syria and Libya, migration emergencies across the Mediterranean, and the rise of the Islamic State and jihadist terror groups have limited EU economic and political support for the region’s governments. Economic renewalThe EU’s ‘Renewed partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood’, published in February, commits the bloc to a €7 billion ‘Economic and Investment Plan for the Southern Neighbours’. Despite this, high unemployment and years of sluggish economic performance been hampered further by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 09, 2021 22:18 UTC