ABSTRACT

This chapter looks into the way implementation theory and European Union (EU) external policy-making can be combined. Then, it defines implementation processes as the dependent variable and addresses the way how traditional top-down and bottom-up theories have approached the topic, as well as the limits encountered when these theories are exported into the domain of EU external policies. The chapter introduces the fundamentals of the governance approach and its significance as an alternative framework to study external policies' implementation. Hypotheses and variables are then illustrated. In particular, domestic political actors, administration's capacity and civil society are analysed in terms of their implications for the implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Furthermore, in order to address the research questions, the Arab uprisings are investigated to understand how they influenced the domestic actors in the neighbourhood and, in turn, their relation with ENP implementation after 2011.