The EU Seen from the Outside: Local Elite Perceptions on the Role and Effectiveness of the EU in the Mediterranean Region

The global and regional contexts surrounding EU–Mediterranean relations have substantially changed since the 1995 Barcelona process, and the EU’s strategic view of the Mediterranean has correspondingly changed with them. The current setting of the Mediterranean appears to necessitate a reset on the understanding of the region from the perspective of local societies and also of the EU, which is one of the principal objectives of the MEDRESET project. The aim of this work is thus to reflect the results of the Elite Survey that addressed nine Mediterranean countries, and to offer a policy-oriented analysis for a renewed EU–Mediterranean partnership. Subsequently, the report (1) provides a detailed description of the survey and its execution; (2) shows how the Mediterranean is constructed in the narratives of local elite stakeholders and (3) how they see and evaluate the EU’s actorness in the region as well as its substance and policy instruments. The report concludes with policy recommendations to the EU at the regional and country-specific level.