ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the role of domestic political actors in Morocco and Tunisia and how they affected the implementation of the ENP programs on the ground until the Arab revolts of 2011. It shows that the goals and the agenda of political actors were extremely important with respect to the implementation of EU programs. Good performance and funds absorption occurred only as long as ENP reforms matched domestic political agenda (e.g. ENP programs in Morocco and ENP economic programs in Tunisia). The political regime, as one of the main components of a country's political system, can be defined as the set of values, norms, rules of the game, and structures of legislative and enforcement authority that inform a political community. Morocco is a pluralist political system where the King managed to open up political contestation, allowing for political inclusion and the development of a multi-party system.
