The European Neighbourhood Policy and Islamist actors in the southern neighbourhood

EU policies towards the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have increasingly focused on how the EU can engage with so called “moderate” Islamist movements. Starting with some reflections about definitions of Islamist actors in the region, this chapter briefly traces the role that Islamists in the MENA have been given in the EU’s bilateral initiatives and the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) before moving on to a more nuanced analysis of this role in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Through extensive fieldwork by the authors over a number of years in the southern neighbourhood of the EU as well as in Brussels, this chapter sheds light on the views of such movements and their willingness to become engaged and involved with the EU in its foreign policies - at the political and strategic levels. Given the developments in the region since the Arab uprisings, we investigate, more specifically, the role and place of Islamist movements in the EU’s democratization policies. We conclude this chapter with a set of policy recommendations on how a revitalized ENP, in light of the 2015 ENP review process, can better integrate Islamist movements through mutual respect, peaceful and non-violent forms of political participation.