Verbatim report of proceedings

Tuesday, 26 March 2019 - Strasbourg

Post-Arab Spring: way forward for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (debate)

  Neena Gill (S&D). – Mr President, eight years ago, hopes were high for a more inclusive and democratic MENA region. Unfortunately, the overall picture now looks bleak. The main factors that contributed to dissatisfaction and upheaval in 2011 have worsened. Income disparity and youth unemployment have increased: in fact, it is the highest globally. Instead of tackling these fundamental challenges, the EU – driven by Member States – has narrowed its interests to simply security and migration management. This short-sighted approach ignores the brewing anger and frustration in our southern neighbourhood, and it is just a matter of time before it comes back to haunt us.

Commissioner, I have received emails from my constituents about human rights abuses against migrants in Libya, widely reported in our media. What has the EU done to investigate these allegations about EU-funded actors? Secondly, how does the EU support MENA societies working towards constructing new economic orders, given that the rentier economic system has failed to keep pace with rising demands from a growing population? How are we focused to have access to decision-making, particularly for young people, effective service provision and combating corruption? Thirdly, the Russian footprint in the region has expanded visibly. How are we responding to these geopolitical ambitions?