Mediterranean Programme - [02/09/2007]

CIDOB, in a seminar in support of Mediterranean reform

Eduard Soler, co-ordinator of the CIDOB Foundation’s Mediterranean Programme participated in a seminar in Valletta, Malta, in which debate took place on how Europe can contribute to political reform in the Mediterranean. The seminar, convened by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, brought together some thirty scholars, high-ranking civil servants and politicians from Germany, Belgium, Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Turkey.

Among the principal issues debated, the ones which stood out were the need or lack thereof for Europe to be perceived as a normative power in the Mediterranean; whether the Barcelona Process is compatible with the European Neighbourhood Policy; whether it is necessary for the EU to lower its rhetoric and make its real interests more visible; whether a secularised civil society should be promoted; and what treatment should be given to Islamist actors.

The seminar, Supporting the Process of Mediterranean Reform, originated not so much with the will to reach common conclusions but rather to generate brainstorming. However, it did establish the basis for these ideas to be materialised in more concrete political proposals in the future, counting also on the participation of politicians and scholars from the countries to the south and east of the Mediterranean.

The interventions which stood out, among others, were by Michael Frendo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta; Annette Jünemann, of the German Armed Forces University in Hamburg; Sven Biscop, of the Royal Institute of International Relations in Brussels; Rafaela del Sarto, of the European University Institute in Florence; and Michelle Pace, ofthe University of Birmingham.