The EU and its Southern Neighborhood: a fuzzy model of citizenship promotion?

This chapter investigates the way in which conceptual models of
state-society relations are formulated and translated into practice by
the European Union (EU) in its bilateral relations with the southern
Mediterranean countries. It does so by looking at the evolution of
European foreign policy since the 2011 Arab Uprisings, analysing first
the revised European Neighbourhood Policy, but also the new strategies
adopted by other EU bodies and frameworks, such as the European
Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights and the European
Endowment for Democracy. The chapter will empirically attest the
degree to which EU policies have been inspired by the new strategies,
as well as how far formulations of democratic ideals can be extrapolated
from these policies. Lastly, it will elaborate on the relationship
between these conceptual models of democracy and different models of
citizenship, thereby cross-fertilising two strands of literature often kept
separated, i.e. studies on democracy promotion or democracy assistance,
and citizenship studies.