Paris Summit for the Mediterranean

Launched a little over a year ago by the French Head of State, the Union for the Mediterranean project, which aims to strengthen and deepen the cooperation between both sides of the Mediterrean, will be officially inaugurated on 13 July 2008 at the Paris Summit for the Mediterranean, which will bring together 43 European and Mediterranean States, the Community institutions and the regional organisations.

Having acknowledged the widening disparities in the development between each side of the Mediterranean, thereby increasing the risk of instability in the whole region, the President of the French Republic, joined now by all his European and Mediterranean counterparts, has initiated given a new dynamic impetus to promote partnership in the Mediterranean. It will build on the achievements of the Barcelona Process, inaugurated 13 years ago mainly on the initiative of Spain and France, but also intends to considerably develop its aspirations, functioning and its means for action.

The Union for the Mediterranean project is based on three simple but essential principles: a political mobilisation at the highest level through Summits of Heads of State and Government every two years; a governance on an equal footing, in the form of a North-South co-presidency and a permanent secretariat with equal representation; a prioritising of concrete projects with a regional dimension that create de facto solidarity.

The Paris Summit for the Mediterranean, set to be attended by the Heads of State and Government of the 27 Member States of the European Union, the 12 Mediterranean countries which are members of the Barcelona Process and the other four countries bordering the Mediterranean, together with the heads of the largest international and regional organisations, already promises to be a major political event.

The President of the French Republic and current President of the European Council Union will welcome the participants to the Grand Palais for an afternoon of debates which will conclude in the adoption of the first main concrete projects of the Union for the Mediterranean. On the agenda for discussion are: environmental and energy problems, focusing on proposals for the de-pollution of the Mediterranean; the development of solar energy and water management; solutions to increased natural hazards and the infrastructure and transport deficit through joint civil protection programmes and the development of maritime highways; economic and social development challenges in the Mediterranean which could be partially resolved by actions to support small and medium enterprises and by support programmes for higher education and research.

This meeting will be followed by a dinner at the Petit Palais for the participants.

Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean

Projects to clean up the Mediterranean Sea, establish new sea routes and highways, and harness solar energy could be at the heart of new European efforts to engage with southern neighbors, according to the first set of concrete proposals published Tuesday.

Less than two months before the debut of a new Union for the Mediterranean, pioneered by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, the European Commission sought to put its stamp on the plan with a series of recommendations.

While its call for big spending projects in the region will be welcomed in Paris, the document issued Tuesday also proposes a further dilution of Sarkozy's original aim of giving the European Union's southern states a bigger role in the venture than northern EU counterparts. ...

What is not disputed is the thinking behind the plan: that previous initiatives have largely failed. Since 1995 the EU has engaged with southern neighbors through the so-called Barcelona Process but with few tangible results.

The new document concedes that the Barcelona Process suffered from "weak visibility and the perception by citizens that little is done to tackle their daily problems and real needs." European diplomats hope the new organization, known officially as the "Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean," will give southern Mediterranean countries a greater stake because they will be on a level of parity with the EU.

Critics point out that a central problem will remain: the diverse southern Mediterranean membership, which includes Syria and Israel.

The commission said the new union should hold summit meetings every two years, but avoided endorsing any location for its headquarters. Tunis, however, has emerged as a prime candidate. The commission called for two parallel sets of co-presidencies - to be held by France for an initial six months on the EU side. Thereafter this would be held by the new president of the European Council or high representative for foreign affairs - posts established under the new Treaty of Lisbon.

The document released Tuesday called for improved maritime and road infrastructure, including new sea routes and upgraded port facilities, and a new road to link the Arab states of North Africa - Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

The new body should reinvigorate a plan approved in 2006 to clean the Mediterranean Sea of pollution, a 2007 program to develop solar power, and a proposal for a Euro-Mediterranean free trade zone by 2010, the document said.

IHT

EU leaders agree to weakened Mediterranean Union plan

EU leaders approved a watered-down version of a plan put forward by French President Nicolas Sarkozy for a grand Mediterranean Union stretching from Morocco to Turkey and aiming to foster cooperation with the EU's southern neighbours.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa called the proposal an "upgrade of the Barcelona process" – the mechanism currently regulating the relations between the EU and the Mediterranean countries – and said it had received support during the EU leaders' meeting in Brussels.

An agreement was reached to launch the project as soon as possible, "with the principle that all member states will participate," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also said.

Mr Sarkozy also rejected claims that his initial proposal had been considerably weakened, saying that it was not very different from what was eventually agreed upon. There is still one secretariat, a joint north-south presidency, and periodical summit meetings foreseen, so "I do not think I have renounced anything," he said, adding that he was happy the principle of a closer partnership with the Mediterranean countries "was taken up with great enthusiasm" by the other member states, as the "Barcelona [process] simply did not work".

The proposal sparked ideas for other EU states as well, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk saying that the EU should now commit more to eastern states, particularly Ukraine, which should be given a clear European perspective."We accept this agreement in general, but we also have our own proposal about Ukraine," he said.

Meanwhile, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said that key points, such as what exactly the role of the new Mediterranean set up would be, remained unanswered and suggested the French president was working to reach national goals above all. "It is obvious that Sarkozy wants to make a name for himself during the French presidency and is focusing on a subject in which he has an economic interest," Mr Topolanek was quoted as saying by CNN.

Archimedes launched

Archimedes (so-called from the initials of its full name – Actions to Regenerate Cities and Help Innovative Mediterranean Economic Development Enhancing Sustainability) is one of nine projects taking place in the framework of the MED-PACT regional programme which is dedicated to cooperation among local authorities on the Southern and Northern shores of the Mediterranean. Its specific objectives are to assist the EU’s Mediterranean partner countries to ensure a more balanced and durable local development, via partnerships between cities and to promote better municipal planning and management.

The MED-PACT programme falls within the framework of the Barcelona Process which aims at promoting prosperity, democracy, stability and security in the Mediterranean basin. MED-PACT is a partnership programme between local authorities in the Mediterranean with a BUDGET of €5 million. Start Date: 2006 Duration: 3 years.

The MED-PACT programme meets a Committee of the Regions request in a 2003 Opinion for the need to support cooperation between local authorities within the Euro-Mediterranean partnership. It also meets one of the main recommendations of the Naples December 2003 Foreign Affairs Ministerial Conference of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership which called for the promotion of civil society partnerships in the region to give greater substance to the Barcelona Process.

The main objective of the programme is to encourage better understanding between civil society in the north and the south of the Mediterranean by developing cooperation, exchanges and dialogue between cities.

The specific objectives are:

• to assist the EU’s Mediterranean partner countries to ensure a more balanced and durable local development, via partnerships between cities
• to promote better municipal planning and management, involving all the city’s actors as necessary

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The EU's policy toward Syria: a costly wait and see approach

Comment By Ruth Hanau-SantiniEUOBSERVER / COMMENT
Given the lack of a coherent and comprehensive EU approach to Syria and its role in the Middle East, it would be useful to look the costs and benefits of developing a proper policy towards Damascus.

In 2004, the EU total assistance aid allocated to Syria reached €55 million. It was mainly for technical assistance, institution-building and democracy promotion. In the same year, after eight years of negotiations, the EU and Syria finalised an Association Agreement.

The sanctions imposed by the US against Damascus in May 2004, however, influenced some member states' willingness to sign the agreement. The UK, Germany and the Netherlands' insistence on inserting an additional clause dealing specifically with chemical weapons blocked the overall process. The deal was called off and economic relations continue to be ruled by a 1977 Co-operation Agreement. So despite Syria being a partner in the Barcelona process, it does not benefit from the European Neighbourhood instruments.

While the EU remains Syria's first trading partner, the relationship's intensity has significantly decreased in the aftermath of the US embargo. Far from being passive, Syria has diversified its economic and political relations with third countries. Ankara, already Damascus' second trade partner, has been particularly privileged, as symbolized by the opening of a Free Trade Area at the beginning of 2007.

In the coming years, Turkey could become Damascus' largest trading partner: its exports to Syria have already nearly tripled in the past 10 years, rising from roughly USD 270m in 1997 to over USD 600m in 2006. In addition to that, Turkey has become a political and military ally, the two having signed a military agreement in 2004 aimed at countering the danger of potential spill-overs from Iraq's Kurdish areas.

By acting in an un-coordinated manner, the EU has diminished its overall capacity for influence. Acknowledging this risk, in the spring of 2007, national capitals informally agreed to be represented by the EU High Representative, Javier Solana, towards Damascus. In reality, this has never materialized and foreign ministers have kept visiting Assad without offering either an EU- coordinated long-term strategic vision or real carrots.

The consequences of the US ban have been far-reaching: on the one hand Syria has reinforced political and economic ties with third countries, thereby limiting the potential leverage of the EU. On the other, the sanctions have caused an internal split within the Union with some member states afraid to alienate the US Middle Eastern project. This has had its downside, namely the indefinite postponing of the establishment of an EU comprehensive vision of the region.

To conclude, the costs of envisaging a common approach to Syria's potentially beneficial role in the region would cause irritation in Washington, as well as in Israel, with whom the EU is struggling to improve the tone of the relationship.

A shift from a wait-and-see approach to a pro-active one, on the other hand, would entail significant benefits, both politically and economically.

Economically, Syria is an important gateway for European trade in the Arab world. Politically, reaching an association agreement with Syria remains the main channel through which the EU can hope to influence democratic forces and modernization impulses within the country, by setting clear benchmarks associated to further economic involvement.

Secondly, the same card should be used to forge a common strategic vision over the means the Union is ready to deploy in order to increase Damascus' stakes in developing an autonomous foreign policy in the area, resisting Teheran's influence.

Brussels should not wait to have fully-fledged economic relations before adopting an overall strategic policy towards Syria, but should strive to develop both simultaneously.

Spain now proposes Mediterranean Union

Spain's foreign minister has proposed a Mediterranean Union, an idea first suggested by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, with fully fledged institutions along the lines of the European Union.

"The moment has arrived ... to build a real geopolitical space through the establishment of a Mediterranean Union," Miguel Angel Moratinos wrote in an article in yesterday's El Pais, a prominent Spanish daily.

A union comprising EU states and Mediterranean countries should have a council of heads of state and government that would set strategic policy guidelines, ministerial councils, a Permanent Commission to act as a secretariat, a reinforced parliamentary assembly and even its own bank, he said. "The organization would help the region tackle challenges ranging from environmental issues to immigration."

Moratinos' comments follow a meeting of foreign ministers from Mediterranean EU countries in Slovenia this month, which discussed expanding the existing Barcelona Process of regular meetings between EU member states and Mediterranean states.

The Barcelona Euro-Mediterranean partnership, created in 1995 at the height of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, has been dogged by the failure to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Other obstacles to the declared objectives of promoting political, economic and cultural cooperation, as well as creating a Mediterranean free trade area by 2010, have been agricultural protectionism in southern Europe and the opaque, authoritarian nature of many south Mediterranean governments. Spain tried to stage a first Euro-Mediterranean summit in Barcelona in 2005, but most Arab leaders stayed away.

Sarkozy’s 'unclear proposal' on a Mediterranean Union

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s proposal to create a ‘Union of the Mediterranean’ is not clear, especially on the nature and objectives of this new body, argue Michael Emerson and Nathalie Tocci from the Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels.
In particular, the CEPS paper raises the following questions:

1. Would this trade union take over from the Barcelona process?
2. Would additional policy instruments be provided by the members of the Med-Union alone?
3. With the escalating hub of conflict in Israel-Palestine-Lebanon-Syria, how would the Mediterranean Union resolve the diplomatic impasse that has bedeviled the Barcelona process?

According to CEPS's paper, the 'take-over' option can be dismissed, even if Sarkozy has surprisingly launched this idea of a "Union of the Mediterranean" without mentioning the EU's Barcelona process. Another possibility, which would hardly merit the name of 'Union of the Mediterranean' and would only create extra confusion in the EU's processes, would be to create an expanded '5+5' West Mediterranean Forum, the paper states.
It proposes another possibility: to reshape the architecture of the Barcelona Process and that of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), by separating the southern and eastern branches of the ENP. Such a change would represent an important agenda to consider, the authors assert.
Under this scenario, the Barcelona Process and extra mechanisms of the ENP would be merged, and existing policies and procedures would be reconsidered. In addition, this Union of the Mediterranean would require a reconfiguration of the role of the most interested member-states, the paper states.
The CEPS therefore recommends this version of the 'Union of the Mediterranean' for Sarkozy's consideration, in case the idea was launched without been seriously prepared. This interpretation of the new President's proposal was suggested in the press, saying that it was "just an intuitive remark about wanting to do something 'better than Barcelona' in the Mediterranean".
Euractiv
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