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One Year after The New ENP Approach: Time for Europe to Show Credibility

On the eve of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting in Brussels on June 25, the Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) calls on the European Union (EU) to show strong political will, one year after its adoption, to implement its new policy with South Mediterranean neighbours in a way that systematically translates its commitment for human rights, democratisation and gender equality into actions.

At their meeting on 25 June, EMHRN calls on the EU Member States to review the implementation of the “New European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Approach”. The EU should provide evidence of clear objectives and commitment to acting, in order to back its declarations of changed policies with South Mediterranean countries.

EMHRN draws attention to serious shortcomings in the policy implementation of the recent ENP package. The EU’s approach with some of the Southern neighbours, like Jordan, Egypt or Algeria remains a cause for great concern. In the case of Algeria, for instance, EMHRN -and its Algerian members- have alerted EU officials about the deteriorating human rights situation on several occasions and  the lack of actual reforms in Algeria. This comes in sharp contrast with the EU’s positive assessment of the situation in the country. The EU cannot –and must not- close its eyes on on-going human rights violations in Algeria.

The EU ‘more for more’ policy approach is an incentive-based approach supporting EU partners that are committed to democratic and human rights reforms. “When implementing this policy, the EU should clearly base its assessment on real progress with regard to democratisation, human rights and gender equality,” declared EMHRN President Michel Tubiana.

Also as it currently stands, EMHRN is concerned that the “new ENP approach” does not take into account prolonged conflicts in the region. The approach fails to systematically address Israel’s violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The EU Council should therefore clearly integrate respect of human rights and IHL in all ENP instruments, and in their implementation alike.

Similarly, commitments by the EU to step up efforts to support women’s rights and ensure that gender equality is mainstreamed into all relevant cooperation activities should be translated into concrete and measurable objectives.

As to EU’s commitment for “partnership with civil society”, the EMHRN acknowledges that some progress has been made but calls on the EU machinery to deeply change its way of dealing with civil society and to take all necessary steps to put systematically this commitment into practice, especially with local NGOs.

“The EU has to live up to the expectations raised by the Arab spring. Transitional processes in the region need to be sustained so as to avoid negative implications for Europe and ensure stability in the Middle-East and North Africa,” added EMHRN President Tubiana.

On 15 May, a year after its adoption, the European Commission and the High Representative presented a joint “ENP package” on the implementation of the New ENP Approach. In this new approach, the EU committed to putting democracy, human rights and gender equality at the forefront of its renewed agenda.

The 15 May “ENP package” assesses the implementation of this policy, in particular its “more for more approach”. The EU Council is expected to adopt Conclusions on the ENP on 25 June.