The European Union’s changing role in the Southern neighbourhood: From a normative to a geopolitical actor?

Description

This contribution traces the European Union’s evolving role conception since 2003 from normative transformer and political stabiliser to an emerging geopolitical actor in the Southern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy. It shows that gaps between this self-image, the Mediterranean partners’ expectations and the EU’s actual performance persist, although a more pragmatic approach has gradually narrowed the divides.