EU-Arab summit comes at tumultuous time

POLITICAL and business leaders are making final preparations for the 2017 EU-Arab Summit in Athens on Thursday and Friday. The agenda, focused around the key theme of "Toward a Solid Alliance", is centred on opportunities for economic and political cooperation and partnership after a period of tremendous tumult in both geographies.

While most attention has focused on the so-called Arab Spring, Europe has also gone through significant political and economic instability since the 2008 financial crisis. Millions have taken to the streets, and administrations in more than half of the 28 EU states fell or were voted out of office from spring 2010 to 2012 alone, partly because of economic downturn and/or austerity measures. Within the core eurozone, 11 of 14 governments collapsed or lost elections during that same two years.

More eye-catching still, however, has been the remarkable wave of political activity, starting in Tunisia, which has spanned across North Africa and the Middle East. This includes revolutionary changes of power in Egypt and Libya; transfer of power in Yemen; plus demonstrations and uprisings in countries as disparate as Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco and Oman.