Relations with the EU do not figure prominently in the political debates in countries of the Arab Spring. The author of this Policy Brief argues that the EU’s belated support for the protest movements as well as its revised approach towards the southern neighbourhood could not betray the persistence of many old paradigms in Euro-Mediterranean relations. Based on the assumption that the EU currently lacks both interest and sufficient leverage for effective democracy promotion, the author makes a number of recommendations with the aim to ensure strong EU-Arab relations in the future.