20111114
Reuters
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Nearly one year after the Arab Spring began, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is trying to carve out a clearer role for the bloc in its 'southern neighbourhood', focusing on civil society and what she calls 'deep democracy'.

The strategy involves the carrot of aid to coax new democracies into developing honest administrations and upholding women's rights, while being careful not to offend national pride by lecturing them on good government.

"Elections are the symbolic moment, but it's not enough," Ashton said during a trip over the weekend to Libya, which has said it will hold elections next year. "What happens before and after matters. You need to know if the elections were not fraudulent." When she asks people in the region what they need, "What they say to me is 'a retired president.'"

Ashton is the bloc's High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy, a post created two years ago, and represents both its main branches -- the executive and the council of 27 national governments. For the past year, she has also been at the head of a new EU diplomatic corps.

"I see my role as making sure we have the capacity to have common cause on the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, Libya," she said.

However, the European Union struggled to find a common position in the early days of the Arab Spring. Nordic members were concerned about human rights, Mediterranean ones were worried about economic ties and possible mass migration.

In Libya, France, Britain and then NATO carried out a bombing campaign to protect civilians from Muammar Gaddafi's crackdown on opponents, an operation that helped Libyan rebels overturn the dictator. But Germany opposed the campaign.

In May Ashton went to Benghazi, the most senior foreign visitor to the rebel stronghold, to show EU support for the rebels. Also in May, she announced that EU aid would in future be linked to progress in civil society, such as press freedom and fair elections. The EU says it has become the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to Libya.

"The role of the EU was clearly different from the military operation," said one EU diplomat. "Our value added focused on humanitarian assistance, cooperation and diplomacy. We turned around our strategy with the region, the first ones to do that."

CLEARER FOCUS NOW

Analysts say there is now a clearer focus to the EU's foreign policy, which benefits from a lack of colonial baggage, unlike many individual European nations. The stakes are high for Europe: stability south of the Mediterranean would make the continent more secure and nurture new trading partners.

"The EU was outplayed in Libya" in the early days of the uprising, having little impact on the course of events, said Daniel Korski, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "If Ashton can turn the EU failure into a success, she will get kudos."

Ashton says the European Union should be promoting "deep democracy" -- a phrase seen often this year in EU foreign policy statements. It means civil rights and good policing, from forensics to prison services, she says.

The EU is well placed to help because of the conversion of Communist-era secret police forces in eastern Europe into respected defenders of order. The bloc has also helped train police forces in places such as Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"With 'deep' I am trying to imply putting roots down" for democratic society, said Ashton. "It's about how you build civilian police forces that are properly trained. We've had lots of different experiences in Europe ... What Europe's really good at is civil society."

On Saturday Ashton took her ideas on a day trip to Tripoli, freshly decorated with red, green and black Libyan Independence Flags, and slogans like "Finally we are free" scrawled on walls. She was greeted in the recently named Martyrs' Square by well-wishers who thanked her for EU aid, and picked up a "Free Libya" pendant, bracelet and T-shirt.

She met the incoming prime minister, Abdurrahim El-Keib, the chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC), Mustafa Abdul Jalil, and opened the offices of the EU's first permanent delegation in Libya.

At a joint news conference with Jalil, Ashton began by saying: "This is your country -- we're here to support."

A questioner asked Jalil -- who has said the new Libya will uphold Islamic law -- about women being under-represented in the NTC. Ashton answered first. "Women have been part of the secret of the liberation of this country and they are part of its future," she said. "It is a sensible economic proposition that all people should reach their full potential."