Assessing shifts in the EU financial aid to Euromed countries after the Arab spring

Abstract

A revolutionary wave that began in Tunisia and then moved to Egypt and other countries in the Arab world was perhaps the most discussed issue in 2011. Various changes occurred in governance, legislations, social roles and policies. Amongst these changes, this dissertation is an attempt to examine whether the quantity and nature of European Union financial aid to Euro~Mediterranean countries have changed with the uprising of the Arab Spring. It deems to investigate the changes in policies that detail the structure of financial instruments and how these changes have affected the role of civil society. The study required extensive research and attempts have been made to make the best use of existing literature. The researcher has used primary sources of information such as speeches, manuscripts, interviews, online blogs and official records to present the reader with a clear picture of the catalysts that instigated the revolutionary wave across the Middle East and North African region. However, for the purpose of validity, secondary sources of information such as magazines, articles, journals, criticisms and commentaries, have also been used to encompass a comprehensive result that validates the research question. Here in the dissertation, Tunisia and Egypt have been taken as case studies to narrow down the focus on two particular countries, taking into account that civil society is well representative in both countries. Comparative analysis has been used to highlight similarities and differences. The results of the dissertation show that there have been changes in European Union financial aid before and after the Arab Spring. A relationship between the countries' reforms along the years and the review in financial aid has been found. These findings provide directions for future research, to examine the distribution of European Union financial aid to Tunisia and Egypt in the coming years.