Mediterranean Programme - [02/14/2008]

Spain should launch new proposals within the framework of the Barcelona Process

Madrid, Fundación Alternativas, 29 de enero de 2008.

On 29 January, the Fundación Alternativas (in collaboration with the CIDOB Foundation) held a work seminar in Madrid titled "The Union for the Mediterranean and its implications". The seminar was based on a discussion document drafted by Eduard Soler, Coordinator of the Mediterranean Programme at the CIDOB Foundation, and which covered a range of issues such as how the proposal of the Union for the Mediterranean arose, what its motivations are, how it is being defined and by whom, the strong and weak points of the initiative and the possible future scenarios for Spain's Mediterranean policy.

One of the points that Soler made was that the French proposal runs the risk of producing overlaps or contradictions with European policies, and even with the legal and institutional framework of the EU. Even so, he argued, since it is more than likely that the Union for the Mediterranean will come into existence, greater efforts should be focused on finding a way to fit the initiative into the framework of the European Union, by clearly delimiting the areas of action in which it could bring positive results for only countries bordering the Mediterranean to participate. Furthermore, in order to maintain the relevance of the Barcelona Process, Soler stressed that “there is a danger of our becoming obsessed with criticising the French proposal”. In the present circumstances, he noted that “Spain should focus on launching new proposals that will improve the functioning and visibility of the Barcelona Process, as well as other cooperation frameworks such as 5+5”.

Soler's address was followed by comments by Fidel Sendagorta, Ambassador in Special Mission for Mediterranean Affairs, and Arnauld de la Sury, Political Adviser to the French Embassy, who presented the positions of their respective governments. In his speech, de la Sury expressed a clear desire for cooperation in this field, and he stressed that the Union for the Mediterranean should be viewed as a complement to the Barcelona Process. Following his remarks, the members of the panel of experts of the Observatory of Spanish Foreign Policy of the Fundación Alternativas reported on what kind of reception the French proposal had met with in different countries around the Mediterranean basin; this opened an intense debate in which it was revealed that the greatest support for the initiative had come from the Maghreb region and in business circles, while it had been met by indifference in the Near East and even rejection by Turkey.