In 1986, the two Iberian countries joined the European Communities after a protracted, over a decade long negotiations and in the Spanish case, a tense exchange of correspondence and opinions. While the existing literature accentuates primarily the value of democracy for Spanish membership,...

The current fiscal imbalances and fragilities in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMC) are the result of decades of instability, but have become more visible since 2008, when a combination of adverse economic and political shocks (the global and European financial crises, Arab...