European Union's response to the Arab Spring: Building a true pole of influence with all our neighbours
| 10/11/2011 
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Tribune by António Vitorino published on the occasion of his intervention at the Conference organised by ECFR in Warsaw on 9 November 2011. The President of Notre Europe underlines the need for a new political vision, drawing lessons from the past, but also for the implementation of complementary policies so as to support the economies and the civil societies.

A historic opportunity for the EU

The Arab awakening and ongoing uprisings have surprised and unnerved Europe’s leaders. Like recent events in Eastern Europe, they have spurred the European Union to examine possible strategies to adopt vis-à-vis its neighbours. As of today it is not yet totally clear that the EU has fully managed to raise its game so as to be equal to the events in progress.

The enlargement policy, amplified by the end of the Cold War, helped give substance to the “EU external policy”: today the Arab Spring must lead to the strengthening of another “pillar” of external action – the neighbourhood policy. This policy – launched several years ago and now the object of a welcome renovation proposed by the European Commission and high representative Catherine Ashton – must allow the EU to adapt its strategic vision to new circumstances.

The EU and its member states must build a new relationship with countries whose people desire change, one based on those people’s aspirations: Europeans must provide moral and material support, combining short-term and strategic projects. I will underline two major sets of issues in this perspective:

  • The need for a new political vision, drawing lessons from the past;
  • The implementation of complementary policies so as to support the economies and the civil societies.

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    Tribune also published in  Public Service Europe and Regards Citoyens 




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    The author
    António Vitorino
    Portuguese politician, former Defence Minister and former European Commissioner. A lawyer by profession, he has taught at the University of Lisbon since 1982. Since 2005 he has been president of the general assembly of the Santander Totta bank and an associate at the law firm Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira & Associados.
    In view
    The EU and the Arab Spring: a vision for our neighbours
    Notre Europe's viewpoint | 16/06/2011
    The ongoing uprisings in the Arab world have surprised and unnerved the EU’s Leaders, and it is not clear that they have managed to be equal to the events in progress. Hence this statement by Jacques Delors, Antonio Vitorino and Notre Europe’s board of directors, focusing on a triple message: 1 - The events in the Arab world must firstly be perceived as a historic opportunity, and not as a threat: the EU must leave behind the sterile trade-off between dictatorship and Islamism, and thus its “security preference”, so as to build new relations with peoples who demonstrated their attachment to European values such as democracy, openness and freedom 2 - Europeans must provide without delays moral and material support to people and countries undergoing change, to consolidate and extend their political progress: priority must be given to the economies, with a massive European aid programme, but also to civil societies, by sending them signals of openness, especially on the delivery of visas 3 - Events in the South, but also in the East, must lead to promote the “neighbourhood policy”, under revision, as a core pillar of the nebulous “EU external policy”. No South/East opposition then, but a reinforced and differentiated support, adapted to the degree of modernization of the beneficiaries. Countries such as Tunisia and Egypt can spearhead the rapprochement between the EU and its neighbourhood: their success is essential and will be seen as a test for other countries, but also for the EU and its leaders.
    Project
    The EU and its Neighbours
    Research project