Mediterranean Programme - [03/11/2008]

Union for the Mediterranean or Euro-Mediterranean Community?

Eduard Soler, Coordinator of the CIDOB Foundation's Mediterranean Programme, has participated in a seminar titled “The Mediterranean Union initiative and the Barcelona Process”, organised by the EU's Institute for Security Studies. This seminar, which was held in Paris on 7 March, brought together a large group of experts from both sides of the Mediterranean to debate the impact that Sarkozy's initiative could have on the EU's Mediterranean policy.

Jacques Hutzinger, from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, presented the latest details of the initiative; he highlighted the extent to which the initial proposal has been developed and stressed that the French-German agreement of 3 March will mark the proposal’s future. Erwan Lannon, a lecturer at Ghent University, presented a legal analysis of the different ways in which the Union for the Mediterranean could interact with existing frameworks, such as the Barcelona Process, the European Neighbourhood Policy and 5+5. Roberto Aliboni, Vice-President of the Instituto d'Affari Internazionali in Rome, spoke of the need to maintain the acquis of the Barcelona Process in the face of new approaches that will involve a geopolitical reorientation.

The three addresses gave rise to a fruitful debate between the seminar's participants. Among other issues, scepticism was expressed with respect to the tightness of the timetable, given that the aim is to achieve a proposal that is well-constructed and agreed by all partners by the time of the meeting on 13 July. Another point raised was the fact that it is not yet known whether the Barcelona Process will end up incorporating the Union for the Mediterranean as a sub-project, or whether the Union will become the new name for the Barcelona Process. If this scenario should materialise, it is uncertain as to whether the change of name could also bring a change in the nature of the project.

During the debate, Eduard Soler reminded participants that just as in 2005, unreasonable expectations were generated, and as a result the Barcelona Summit ended in frustration, there is a real risk that the Union for the Mediterranean will also fail to live up to the expectations it is generating. If we do not want to repeat this situation, Soler claimed, three things should be done. Firstly, private capital cannot be solely relied upon; instead, more public funds must be released for promoting reforms, infrastructures and social policies in Mediterranean countries. Otherwise, Soler argued, funding will only be given to projects capable of producing a profit for businesses. Secondly, the selection process for the projects to be funded must be absolutely transparent, and especially the selection criteria. Thirdly, we must not make the mistake of adopting a grandiloquent tone. In Soler's opinion, the term 'Union' proposed by Sarkozy does not reflect the aspirations of the project. A more modest title, such as the Euro-Mediterranean Community (a name that was previously proposed in the 2005EuroMeSCo report) would be better suited for the initiative's ambitions. There was a significant consensus among participants on the latter point.

The seminar showed that a wide margin still exists for fully defining the structure and actions of the Union for the Mediterranean. Even though it is the leaders of the EU Member Countries that will be mainly responsible for defining the proposal, research centres can also play an important role in terms of their contribution to the debate.

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