A new beginning

When French president Nicolas Sarkozy first announced plans for a grandiose union for the Mediterranean (UFM), he ruffled more than a few feathers. First, the EU already has a programme of cooperation with the countries of the Mediterranean – Euromed or the Barcelona process. Second, Sarkozy’s plan was seen by many as a thinly disguised means of sidelining Turkey, whose membership of the EU is widely opposed in France, by making it part of a sort of ‘EU neighbours club’.

But the European commission moved quickly to clarify how Sarkozy’s vision was complementary to the existing Euromed structure, and the Irish ‘no’ vote against the Lisbon treaty effectively scotched any chance of EU enlargement beyond Croatia, at least for the time being, making Turkey’s accession an even more distant possibility than it was already.

And so it was with much anticipation – and amid allegations of a return to the days of colonialism from Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi, who declined his invitation – that the opening summit of the UFM was finally held on 13 July in Paris.

Bringing together as it did leaders from across the EU, north Africa and the Middle East, most of the anticipation stemmed from the chance to see Israel’s government sit down at the table with Muslim leaders – although Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad reportedly left the room when Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert made his speech – and in that respect alone the summit can be called a success, with Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas holding a joint press conference at the start of the summit to underline their continued commitment to peace in the region.

But the discussions were far more wide-ranging than the Israel-Palestine question, and EU politicians were quick to underline the importance of the event. Parliament president Hans-Gert Pöttering, who is also president of the Euro-Mediterranean parliamentary assembly, which brings together parliamentarians from both sides of the Mediterranean, told delegates that while the Barcelona process, had been a success, “the time is ripe to give the process a new impetus”.

“In order to tackle the major challenges facing us we need significant projects. For example projects in the field of solar energy, the construction of roads and sea-ways along the Mediterranean coast - the ‘Autoroute de la Mer’ - and the cleaning up of the Mediterranean. Major challenges of this kind call for the close involvement of our citizens. That is the core of this new initiative,” he said. Rather than focusing on largely institutional cooperation, as the Barcelona process has done, Pöttering said that the UFM would “place people - entrepreneurs, non-governmental organisations, universities and above all our young people - at the forefront of cooperation”.

European commission president José Manuel Barroso, also attending the summit, honed in on the four key areas of focus agreed by the leaders. “First is political dialogue. Our principle aim is peace…,” he said. “The three other areas of focus [economic development, food safety and water and energy] together form a broader goal: supporting the sustainable development of the Mediterranean basin.”

He detailed some of the projects already underway in these areas: cleaning up the sea, investment in solar energy, land and sea infrastructure development, a Euromed university and cooperation in the field of civil protection – and stressed that they were all about “joint responsibility” – a reassurance that the old colonial days feared by Gadaffi were not about to return.

The launch summit was more about principles than action, and the hard work still lies ahead, but the leaders did agree on a lengthy declaration setting out their vision for cooperation around the Mediterranean basin. “Europe and the Mediterranean countries are bound by history, geography and culture. More importantly, they are united by a common ambition: to build together a future of peace, democracy, prosperity and human, social and cultural understanding.

“To achieve these common objectives, participants agree to continue with renewed dynamism the quest for peace and cooperation, to explore their joint problems and transform these good intentions into actions in a renewed partnership for progress,” the declaration begins, before detailing over a dozen pages or so the broad outlines of the now renamed Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean.

These include a commitment to work towards a weapon-free Middle East, a commitment to reduce poverty, the defence of human rights (including rights for women) and the creation of a free trade Area in the Euromed region by 2010.

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