ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the rise of Mediterranean policy up the European Union's foreign policy agenda and the main steps in the development of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP). It shows how the major stimuli for change were a combination of concerns about the risks of instability in the Maghreb and Mashreq, the higher salience attached to Mediterranean security in the aftermath of the Cold War and political pressure from southern member states. The chapter assesses the Renewed Mediterranean Policy (RMP), the largely ineffectual outcome of the Union's attempt to upgrade its relationships with the Mediterranean third countries. Businesses in the mediterranean third countries would face increased competition for European markets and capital. The chapter also discusses the origins of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and outlines its key features. It examines some of the main problems that arose during the negotiation of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements, the principal policy instrument attached to the EMP.
