According to the UKs Minister for the Middle East Alastair Burt, the ENP is growing in influence post Arab uprising.
I won’t claim that we predicted the Arab Spring. But in many ways, the movements for political change that erupted at the beginning of 2011 vindicated our approach and caused us to accelerate our engagement.
Soon after, the British government committed £110 million over four years through our Arab Partnership initiative to support reform in the wider region. This has already underwritten projects to increase political participation, and to equip young people with the skills that they need to get good jobs and contribute to their countries’ development.
We pushed last year for a more ambitious EU offer to the region. The EU's European Neighbourhood Policy Review now offers unprecedented access to the Single Market for the best performers across the Middle East and North Africa through Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas. This could provide a powerful economic boost. I know that groundwork is already being done with Tunisia and Morocco. And we sincerely hope that their neighbours will not be far behind.