Every day, it becomes more and more urgent to talk about gender gap and the need to empower women. Gender equality is the fifth Global Goal for Sustainable Development created by the United Nations. In the European Union, women earn less 16% than men per month, but that gap increases when we analyze, for example, Arab countries. Nevertheless, EU tries to use its soft power to export its norms and ideals and influence its eastern and southern neighbourhood. There is a paradox between European Union's rhetoric and action about gender equality, since it is a topic not acquired within the European territory, but it is part of EU's foreign policy agenda, specially through the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). In that sense, my PhD research project aims to comprehend the impact of the ENP on women’s empowerment through EU soft power in Tunisia and Morocco, using semi-structured interviews with both case studies civil society organizations and relevant political parties, representatives of EU delegation in Tunisia and Morocco and EU political actors at the European Parliament in Brussels.

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European Neighbourhood Policy,soft power,women empowerment,Morocco,Tunisia

• Political Science - Social Sciences
• Other Social Sciences - Social Sciences