The MENA region is Europe’s connection to Africa and Asia. A very different approach is needed in this dynamic, diverse growth region. The contextual conditions of the neighbourhood policy have fundamentally changed and this requires new thinking and new policy design. At the time, the EU could afford a kind of regulatory hegemony in exchange for access to its market, without differentiating much according to the views and interests of the other countries.

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What is needed today is to go beyond current paradigms and policy management methods, dating from decades ago and a different world, politically and economically, and to actively involve creative thinkers from the public, private and academic sectors from the region and from Europe to design multiple options for an innovative, more differentiated and coordinated approach. Real bottom-up dialogues are needed to prepare alignment, a proper integration into the global economy and a common strategic vision.

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The EU cannot continue to deal with other countries with a righteous approach with regard to their internal affairs or positioning itself as a prescriptive regulatory power. More equitable results, especially for the EU and its partners’ green transitions, can be achieved with a flexible, open-minded attitude based on evidence, dialogues and mutual goals. Europeans have to accept that there are multiple systems interacting in today’s globalised world, each with their own history, culture and societal priorities. This is particularly so in the region shaped by common Christian-Jewish-Muslim histories. 

 

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The HLG is chaired by Sir Ivan Roger, Former UK Ambassador to the EU