Caught between cooperation and democratization: the Barcelona Process and the EU's double-discursive approach

The construction and deconstruction of the EU’s neighbourhood

“…A key question was therefore how the EU would use the ENP to address the various security problems it saw as emanating from the region. In this respect, Malmvig (2006) notes that historically EU policy towards the Mediterranean has tended to be driven by a tension between contradictory security discourses. The liberal security discourse has emphasized the promotion of democracy and human rights, the belief being that the absence of democracy, the rule of law, basic freedoms and economic growth has created fertile ground for the emergence of threats of terrorism, radicalization, migration and organized crime.…”

As You Like It: European Union Normative Power in the European Neighbourhood Policy

“…In contrast, it is likely to be the case in the ENP-South that partner governments will never take ownership of a process which might challenge their grip on power. 62 As almost 15 years of EMP illustrate, in a climate of non-coercion it appears too easy for participants to avoid a process that challenges their power base, assuming that base remains solid. Thus, the last stage illustrates how a normative power approach to the study of the ENP would finish by analysing the socialisation, ownership and conditionality in the impact of the EUs promotion of the principles introduced at the beginning of the analysis.…”

Geostrategies of the European Neighbourhood Policy

“…This, in turn, has been to the detriment of developmental and human rights aspects in EU policies towards the region. As Malmvig (2006) argues, EU policy towards the Mediterranean has been driven by two broad yet contradictory security discourses.…”

“…Indeed, the EU is ultimately prepared to tolerate unsavoury regimes in return for cooperation in the fight against terrorism. This smacks of a limes geostrategy where a final border is being drawn and ambitions to influence developments in the partner countries -perceived according to Malmvig (2006: 356) as 'equal Others' -are limited.…”