ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of key issues in the relations between the European Union (EU) and the countries in the Mashreq region since the launching of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in 2004. The Mashreq mainly refers to Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The chapter highlights the analysis of EU–Mashreq relations is influenced by the very different political, social and economic realities in the four countries. The cooperation between the EU and Egypt has been affected by the problematic political development in Egypt. The emphasis on the differences between the countries highlighted that, confronted with the complex and unstable political realities of the Mashreq, the cooperation in the context of the ENP between the EU and the specific countries is facing severe challenges. The various aspects of this can be grouped in different themes in order to sum up the country-based analyses regarding differentiation, conditionality and security.
