At the southern edge of the European Union : the relations between Egypt and the EU before the revolution of 2011

ABSTRACT AT THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION: The relations between Egypt and the EU before the revolution of 2011 Author: Satu Pamilo Political Science Master`s thesis Department of Social Science and Philosophy Faculty of Social Sciences University of Jyväskylä Supervisor: Professor Mika Ojakangas Spring 2013 Number of pages: 64 p., 1 attachment p. In this paper I attempt to examine the relations between the European Union and Egypt until the revolution on 11th of February 2011 chiefly through the analysis of the bilateral agreements and an elite interview, conducted in Egypt January 2011. This study was a qualitative evaluation study using a semi-structured method. I am also presenting conditionality as a driving force in the EU-Egypt bilateral relations. The sources used to this paper have been mainly scientific research, newspapers and literature about the European Union and contemporary Egypt. My main research question is: As the EU is the most important partner in the Middle East and they are approaching the bilateral relations through conditionality, how do the Egyptians see the relations and how effective has the democracy and human rights promotion been in Egypt? For analyzing the interview answers I have used typecasting as a method. In the beginning of the thesis I give an overview on the bilateral relations. In the next chapter I will introduce conditionality and I will also shortly present the elite theories, aiming to explain why the Egyptian elite have been chosen for the interview. In chapter 5 the elite interview answers are analyzed and in the next chapter I aim at tiding the theory and interview results together. I have come to the conclusion that the Egypt sees the European Union mainly as a trade partner and the conditionality has not been successful enough. The United States dominance in the Middle East lowers the EU possibilities in succeeding.