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.