FROM THE BARCELONA PROCESS TO THE ARAB DEPRESSION: THE EUROPEAN UNION'S CONCERNS AND HESITATIONS IN MEDITERRANEAN POLICY

Abstract

The Barcelona Process has been reorganized by undergoing some changes especially after the September 11 events in the USA. By conducting its relations with the countries in the region through authoritarian regimes of secular origin, security, terrorism and immigration have come to the fore in relations. The aim of the study is to show these relationships and their causes and results. The scope of the research has been mainly analyzed for the period called "Arab Spring" from the Barcelona Process, which is the turning point. The failure of this process to a great extent, on the contrary, the instability of the region and its transformation into depression and its effects on the EU have been the main theme of the study. The reasons for the policies of the EU on its anxious and hesitant approach in regional relations from this period until today have been emphasized.Terrorism, immigration and energy, which are seen as originating from the region, have been the most determinant in the EU's policies, only the order of these elements has changed from time to time. By determining its relations with the region on these points, it has made the countries of the region implement its own priorities as policy makers to a large extent. It has produced policies that conflict with EU values, especially on migration. Moreover, in these policies of the EU, although the member states in the Union followed very fragmented policies at the beginning of the process, these elements have become the common policy of the Union over time.