1 Paper prepared for presentation at the ECPR Conference in Montreal Canada August 2015 First Draft The EU Democratization Efforts in the Middle East and North Africa Assem Dandashly assem.dandashly@maastrichtuniversity.nl Department of Political Science Maastricht University Maastricht, the Netherlands Abstract For a long time, democratization in third countries has been on the agenda of Western powers such as the European Union (EU). However, while it was more successful with Central and East European countries, democratization has had limited results in countries further east and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The Arab Spring events opened a new reality highlighting the diversity in the region. While some countries liberalized, others were either not affected at all or even strengthened the authoritarian grip of the regime. Even those countries that went through the Arab Spring ended up differently. The current increased political instability in various MENA countries show the inability of the EU and other international actor not only in the democratization process but also in stabilizing the neighbourhood. The only Arab Spring country that seems to be on right track with respect to democratic transition is Tunisia at the moment. This article seeks to answer the following question: Despite the EU democratization policies in the MENA, why have we seen a different outcome in the various countries? Why the democratic support has resulted in a limited success? And do we see a change following the Arab Spring events? Answering these questions, this article argues that the diversity in the outcome is the result of the interaction between Western linkages and domestic politics and the existence of different levels of elite socialization and veto points.