EU promotion of deep democracy in Egypt after the Arab spring: A missed opportunity?

AuthorFelipe Gómez Isa
PositionProfessor of Public International Law at the University of Deusto (Bilbao)
Pages1-31
www.reei.org
DOI: 10.17103/reei.33.03
EU PROMOTION OF DEEP DEMOCRACY IN EGYPT
AFTER THE ARAB SPRING: A MISSED OPPORTUNITY?
LA PROMOCIÓN DE UNA DEMOCRACIA PROFUNDA
POR LA UE EN EGIPTO TRAS LA PRIMAVERA ÁRABE:
UNA OPORTUNIDAD PERDIDA?
Felipe Gómez Isa*
Summary: I. INTRODUCTION. II. EU PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND
DEMOCRACY IN NEED OF CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION. III. TOWARDS DEEP
DEMOCRACY. IV. EU HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY PROMOTION IN EGYPT
BEFORE 2011. V. EU HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY PROMOTION IN EGYPT
AFTER THE ARAB SPRING. VI. CONCLUSIONS
ABSTRACT: Egypt is an important strategic country for the EU. Since the inception of the Bar celona
process in the mid-1990s, the EU has provided extensive economic and political support to the Mubarak
authoritarian regime that supposedly offered security, stability, and economic op portunities to Europe,
irrespective of the lack of significant progress in the area of human rights and democracy. The popular
uprisings that led to the Arab Spring in 2011 revealed the limitations, contradictions, and short -termism of
this approach. The EU was caught by surprise, and initiall y was hesitant as to which side to support. Once
the revolution succeeded, the EU turned into a major supporter of the democratic process. The EU
announced a paradigm shift in its relations with the Southe rn Mediterranean, a new partnership based in
sustainable and inclusive growth, a greater role for civil society, and a renewed emphasis in human rights
and democratic transformation. The main innovation of the EU’s ne w approach to the region was the
concept of deep democra cy, a new term that generated high expectations. The core objective of our
analysis is to explore to what extent EU policies to wards Egypt have been influenced by the supposedly
new paradigm developed by the EU through the concept of deep democrac y. As t his article has
demonstrated, most changes in EU policies to wards the Southern Mediterranean, particularly the
reviewed ENP, ar e essentially rhetoric, since they do not substantially modify the traditionally top-down
and business-oriented approach that has dominated these relations.
RESUMEN: Egipto es un país estratég ico para la Unió n Europea (UE). Desde el la nzamiento del
denominado proceso de Barcelona a mediados de los a ños 90, la UE ha prestado un amplio apoyo
Fecha de recepción del original: 15 de noviembre de 2016. Fecha de aceptación de la versión final: 22 de
marzo de 2017.
* Professor of Public International Law at the School of Law of the University of Deusto (Bilbao). Email:
felipe.gomez@deusto.es. The research leading to this paper has received funding from the Europea n
Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under the grant agree ment FRAME
(Project No. 320000), www.fp7-frame.eu. The research lea ding to this paper has received funding from
the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under the grant agreement
FRAME (Project No. 320000), www.fp7-frame.eu.
[33] REVISTA ELECTRÓNICA DE ESTUDIOS INTERNACIONALES (2017)
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DOI: 10.17103/reei.33.03
económico y político al régimen a utoritario de Muba rak, un r égimen que supuestamente ofrecía
segurida d, estabilida d y opor tunidades económica s a Eur opa, sin que se tuviera en cuenta la falta de
avances en el á mbito de los derechos humanos y la democra cia. Las revueltas popula res que alumbra ron
la pr imavera á rabe en 2011 revelaron las limitaciones, contr adicciones y cortoplacismo de este enfoque.
La UE fue cogida por sorpresa, e inicialmente tuvo duda s acer ca de a quién apoyar. Una vez que las
revoluciones triunfaron en Túnez y Egipto, la UE se convirtió en una abander ada de las reformas
democrática s. La UE a nunció un ca mbio de pa radigma en sus relaciones con el Mediterr áneo Sur, una
nueva relación basa da en el cr ecimiento económico sostenible e inclusivo, un mayor papel para la
sociedad civil, y un renovado énfasis en los der echos humanos y la democr acia. La pr incipal innovación
vino de la mano del concepto de democracia pr ofunda, un nuevo tér mino que generó gr andes
expectativas. El objetivo d e nuestro análisis es explora r ha sta qué punto las política s de la UE hacia
Egipto se han visto influenciada s por el nuevo parad igma de la democra cia profunda. Como este ar tículo
demuestra, la mayor parte de los ca mbios en las políticas de la UE ha cia el Mediterr áneo Sur,
especialmente la revisada Política Europea de Vecindad (PEV), son meramente retóricos, dado que no
altera n sustancialmente el enfoque tra dicional de estas políticas: un enfoque ba sado en la mejora de la s
relacion es económicas entre a mbos lados del Mediterr áneo.
KEY WORDS: European Union (EU), Human rights and democratization policies, European
Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), Egypt, Arab Spring
PALABRAS CLAVE: Unión Europea (UE), Política s de derechos humanos y democratización, Política
Europea de Vecindad (PEV), Egipto, Primavera Árabe
I. INTRODUCTION
Egypt is an important strategic partner for the EU in the Southern Mediterranean due to
strong reasons ranging from the guarantee of energy supply through the Suez Canal to
the fight against illegal migration and terrorism in the region, or its role in the peace
process between Israel and Palestine in the Middle East. Since the inception of the so-
called Bar celona process in the mid-1990s and the adoption of the Association
Agreement between the EU and Egypt in 2001, the EU has tried to incorporate human
rights and democracy concerns into relations with the country, given the EU’s ambition
of being considered as a normative power. But the EU cannot be proud of its record in
promoting human rights and democracy in the most populous country in the region,
since other considerations have prominently dominated the scene. Security and stability
have prevailed over human rights and democracy, and the EU and some Member States
became active supporters of President Hosni Mubarak’s authoritarian regime. When the
waves of the Arab Spring arrived on the shores of Egypt in January 2011, the EU was
initially hesitant and adopted a “wait and see” approach, until it was clear that President
Mubarak had no option but to leave power. Then, the EU tried to adapt to the new
scenario, and opened a process of critically rethinking some of its policies and
instruments vis-à-vis the entire region, including Egypt. One of the policies in need of
an in-depth revision was the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) launched in 2004.
In fact, the revision of the ENP had already started in 2010, some months before the
eruption of the uprisings in the Southern Mediterranean. The Arab Spring reinforced the
need for reform and gave momentum to the process. In this context, the most significant

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