The Will of Change: European Neighborhood Policy, Domestic Actors and Institutional Change in Morocco

In this book, Eva-Maria Maggi argues that the European Union (EU) had an impact on institutional reform processes in North Africa in cases where major domestic actors agreed. She analyzes how political actors in Morocco used EU neighborhood policies to shape economic and environmental policy between 1995 and 2008. Maggi argues that it was not the design of the EU‘s neighborhood policies but rather the will of change of domestic actors in Morocco that determined the pace, direction of reform and the extent to which the EU continues to play a role in them. While Moroccan politics were indeed “europeanized” Maggi highlights the role of domestic actors who so effectively managed to put forth their own policy priorities and essentially “morocconized” the ENP.