ABSTRACT
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries are neighbors to the EU across the Mediterranean Sea, and became geographically even closer after Spain, Portugal, and Greece joined the EU. This chapter presents an overview of the EU’s policies on the MENA before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. In 1995, the EU signed the Barcelona Declaration with Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Cyprus, Malta, and the Palestinian Authority, officially launching the EMP. The EMP is more of an economic convergence system than an equal partnership. The ENP was a tool for the EU to promote democracy in the MENA. However, the Arab states never warmly welcomed the new policy instruments of the United States and Europe. Since 2011, Syria has gradually become the “center of the maelstrom” for the MENA region owing to the escalation of bloody violence in the country.
