European Support for Arab Parliaments: A Successful Way to Democracy?

This article contributes to the Special Issue “Parliaments in the Middle East and North Africa: A Struggle for Relevance”. In the Euro-Mediterranean region, several international parliamentary initiatives are engaged in parliamentary diplomacy and cooperation. Aside from the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (pa-UfM) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (pam) cross the shores. In addition, a number of national European parliaments, as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations, cooperate with Arab parliaments in a bilateral manner.Based on the author’s own research in Brussels, Amman, Cairo, Rabat, Tunis, and Valletta, the article analyzes cross-Mediterranean parliamentary relations and argues that parliamentary cooperation could facilitate an increase in Arab parliaments’ overall relevance, eventually leading to advanced democratization; however, the authoritarian regimes still in place in most Arab countries still successfully prevent a meaningful strengthening of national legislatures. International support offers thus require broader transformations in their partner countries before yielding success.