Europe’s relations with it Southern neighbourhood
Barcelona Summer School in Global Politics, Development and Security
- 6 hour course by Fathallah Sijilmassi (IBEI)
- June 19, 20 and 21 (12.00 - 2.00 pm)
The European Union is currently undergoing important evolutions and facing many external and internal challenges. Within this framework, its relations with its immediate neighbourhood is an essential part of the current debate about the future of the EU. Security, migration, terrorism, climate change, energy, growth and competiveness are among the very strategic issues that are at stake in the design of EU’s relations with its neighbours. The very concept of neighbourhood has somewhat evolved and has expanded to include what is now called «neighbour’s neighbours» which basically means that the geographical scope of partnerships has to be in line with new realities and priorities.
The course will therefore zoom on EU’s relations with its Southern neighbourhood through three angles:
- An understanding of the state of play of the EU’s neighbourhood Policy (ENP) as it stands with the key interrogation: how to find a balance between crisis management and long term strategy;
- The Euro-Mediterranean partnership architecture with the unavoidable observation that there seems to be too many institutions involved for too little results;
- The new horizon: EU-Africa. But are we talking about a containment strategy only or about building a new alliance for the future?
The course should give students an updated vision of the state of play of the relations of the EU with its Southern neighbourhood as well as the main elements for an analysis of possible evolutions.