POLICY O P E N I N G T H E E U S THEGLO HOULDINSOUTHERNNEIGHB Alber,AtortRu irzozVi arvelli March2023 Thesouthe rn ne ighbou rh ood shoul d b e a i n f r a s tr u c u r epro g ramm e bu t th e b l oc t o t h e r e g o n . SUMMARY ti StrategicgoalsfortheEUintheMeditkeysupplychainsincludingofenergy; economicactivity,andcreatingjobs. TheEUcanproposemoreattractiveinveGlobalGatewaysuseofgrantsrathert Goingbeyondinvestments,theEUshoul know-howandsupportingtrainingtoenh ProtectingphysicalconnectionsisofgwithsouthernneighbourstomonitorGlo Introduction TheEuropeanUnionsGlobalGatewayproconnectivityworldwide.Itisanambitioeconomic,andclimategoals. However,morethanayearafteritslaunclearsetofprioritiesandwell-defined rapidlyshiftingglobalcontext.ThisincconsequencesofRussiaswaronUkraine chainsonwhichtheireconomiesdepend. distanceofkeysuppliersorrelocatethe TheEUhasalreadyestablisheditsgoal vulnerabilityandcarbonfootprintofmovethesevaluechainstoregionsthat energypotential.ThecountriesofthesoeastoftheMediterraneanarestrongcafailedtograspalltheopportunitiesavaeconomiesinthisway.Moreover,despiteinvestmentsintheMiddleEastandNorthregionfromtheincreasingpresenceofCsouthernneighbourhoodcountrieswilllo ThispaperarguesthattheEUshouldmakactivitiesonitssouthernneighbourhood regionalquestforstrongerinfrastructurfocusongrowingmanufacturingsectors depletedsosutathteeronfntehiieng fhrbaosut rrhuocot dur salendow muchworktodointhisarea.Buttherelinksmakeitwellpositionedtobecome followingastrengtheningofenergyrelasuppliesinresponsetothewarinUkrai Tomakethesouthernneighbourhoodafeengageinthesharingofstandardsandkitsapproachandconditionalitysystem. fromthepoliticaltothetechnicaldomaphysicalinfrastructure.Enhancedsuppor thesouthernneighbourhoodwillpromote TheGlobalGateway ThGelobal iGs atehwe aEy Usframeworktopromot aroundtheworld.Itbringstogetheraw umbrellaandaimstoleverage‹300billiosustainableenergy,transport,digital,aformsofinfrastructurerangefromnewerailways,tonewtelecommunicationsinfrinfrastructureratherthantheupgrading particularlytotargetemergingeconomie EUahlasso tshtate tdheGlobalGatewayformspa transitionoutsideitsborders. TheEUsadoptionofthisprogrammealstherealmofinfrastructure.TheEUcurrmajorpowersandvolatileglobaltradeg reducetheriskstheyfaceintehmebiordi snieu adppl tradewarontechcomponentsandreactcountriestomoreurgentlyexplorereshopportunities.Arisingawarenessofvulshortentheirsupplychains.Theyarealeconomies,includingforimportedgoodsmayincreasinglyusetheseconnectionst identtihfeiesdtrategicneedtoshieldcriticalsuppliesfromsuddenpoliticalupheaval facilitiesorprocessingplantsclosertoofvaluechainsandstrengthenstheirres Europeansroleinfundingandsupportintheirplaceintheworld.Infrastructure successstoryofpoliticalmaanr dkoefet c4o5n0ommiicll consumersand30millionfviurlmnse,ercabobunlteomthiec regionsintheworld.Itlargelylackscosuppliersofsemi-finishedproducts.Eur majorpwo ewaepr ostnhcieasienreconomicrelationsfor TheEUcanrespondtothissituationby countries.Thiscanimprovepoliticalrelboostthecompetitivenessofthedestina infrastructureinothercountriesallowshighlytechnicalbutcrucialtoimprovin asmartcontainerportwithafreightraileastcompatiblestandards.Writlarge,nodeshelpsprotectonesinterests,inclthesamelocation. Tothisbackdrop,theEuropeanCommissinosecretthattheEUdrewuptheGlobal 2013ofitsBeltandRoadInitiative,ashasgrowntoencompass147countries.Ysuccess:whileinfrastructuralinvestmen notallofthemhaveproveda ecck onno owmbl yei dcag leldy EuropeanCommissionpresidentUrsulavolaunch. Yet,despiteitsambitions,thecommissiGatewayatriskoffallingpreytodivergforeignpolicypriorities,differentmem Gatefwitaytheir. oRwesnp aognes nibd ialitiesforitsimp thecommissionsdirectoratesgeneralanServiceandtheInvtieernfaotrioolnefaaltdhePerasrphtrinopegrrsahmisituationrisksslowingitsimplementatiGatewayarenumerous,rangingfromhealestablishednohierarchyamongthem. Crucially,theinitiativeremainsdetacheprojection.TheGlobalGatewayisyettosecuritystrategiesandexternalactionpGatewayumbrellaarenotservingEUgoaGlobalGatewayismoreofasupportingtaction. TheGlobalGatewaymakesfundingavailaprioritiesamongitsdestinationregions, economies.Initsfiprrsotj feyucentasdredof unlidfeer, tthhee for2023wereallocatedtoplacesinAfr secondandcountriesoftheMiddleEast neighbouarwhaorooddne ldwy asthree:theMedusaoptic AfricancountrieswithEurope;ahigh-vodesalinationplantinJordan.Theseareacontributingtothefightagainstclimatethesouthernneighbourhoodismodestin partsoftheworld. Regardlessofthecompetingattractions naturalresourcesofsub-SaharanAfrica,contributiontheregioncanmaketoaddrsignificantmargin.Firstly,itsgeographvulnerabilityofsupplychainsinnearsh helpsintermsofpresentandfutureenecheaperandeasiercomparedtootherare MediterraneanwillalsoenhanceconnectiEUsgeopoliticaloptionsinrelationto TheEUandthesouthe RussiaswaronUkrainehaspushedEUcelevatingtheregionsimportancetoEurthereforehasaclearpoliticalinterest countries.Workingwiththemtodevelop economicopportunitiesandhelpbringabonlypatchyrewardstoshowfori