EU Foreign & Security Policy

In September 2010, Qaddafi was threatening the European Union (EU) that Europe would become a ‘black continent’ if it did not pay him 5 billion Euros per year to stop migrants from Africa coming to Europe.

This anecdote, which can now be seen from the perspective of the war in Libya, is actually sadly symptomatic of the contradictions of EU policies towards the region over the last couple of years.

The initial positive spirit of the Barcelona Process was overtaken by realpolitik concerns that led Europeans to be less forceful about the promotion of normative principles such as democratization.

Instead it seems that EU internal security concerns of migration, border control, security and energy took precedence over the promotion of the rule of law and democratization.