The development of EU democracy assistance in the 21st century: the case of Tunisia after the Arab Spring

This paper investigates the developments of European democracy promotion in the second decade of the 21st century or more precisely after the Arab spring. The research of the European promotion structure is based on a thorough analysis, using Tunisia as an example. After this analysis, this paper further focuses on the development of overall European democracy support in Morocco, Egypt and in the broader region. From this research we learn, that in the second half of the 2010s there is an increase in the finances intended for democracy promotion in both absolute and relative terms (when compared to other sectors). This thesis analyses possible reasons for this surge e.g. an attempt to compensate for the democratic deficit in the EU or a reaction to the migration crisis. At the same time, this paper examines the limits of this development and argues that for example the need for stability will further limit any future development of the European democracy support