Mediterranean Programme - [07/03/2008]

CIDOB foundation gives presentation in Rome of various analyses of Mediterranean policy

The Coordinator of the CIDOB Foundation's Mediterranean Programme has taken part in two seminars held in the Italian capital dedicated to the recent evolution of Euro-Mediterranean relations. The first, which was sponsored by the Centro Militare Studi Strategici and the Cento Alti Studi per la Difesa, was titled “Mediterranean: possible convergences”. This meeting, which was held on 25 June, featured participation by Gianni de Michelis, the ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cosimo Risi, Plenipotentiary Minister in the Directorate General for the countries of the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Speaking before an audience made up of civil and military experts, Eduard Soler tackled Spain's priorities in the field of Euro-Mediterranean relations, toward the Maghreb and toward the Middle East. During his address he stressed that these policies are clearly Europeised and that furthermore, Spain's strategy has been characterised by seeking complicity with other southern European countries including France and Italy. The participants’ attention was focused on aspects related with the situation in Palestine and Lebanon, in addition to the project of the Union for the Mediterranean.

These issues were also widely debated at the second annual preparatory conference of EuroMeSCo, organised by the Instituto d’Affari Internazionali, introduced by its vice-president Roberto Aliboni and sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy. The theme of the meeting was the processes of securitisation in Euro-Mediterranean relations and their effects on fields such as political reform. These issues were taken up again by Eduard Soler at the round table held at the end of the conference. Soler placed emphasis on the fact that all too often, the EU and its Member States are seen as agents of securitisation, but that in general terms, it is the governments of the south and east of the Mediterranean themselves that are most interested in such processes. This ensures the maintenance of the status quo and, therefore, that less emphasis be placed on the need to introduce reforms of a democratic nature.

During the round table discussion, Soler declared that not much could be expected from the Paris summit scheduled for the following month of July, either in the field of security or in the field of political reform. In addition to the Coordinator of the Foundation's Mediterranean Programme, the conference also brought together government representatives and experts from both sides of the Mediterranean, including Basem Ezbidi, from Birzeit University in Ramallah, Andrea Amato, from the Romza Institute for the Mediterranean and Abubakr Jamaï, from the Journal Hemdomadaire of Casablanca.

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