Brussels, 18/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - A Moroccan senior civil servant is to take the post of secretary general of the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean), a post which has been vacant for more than two months. He is Youssef Amrani, currently secretary general to the foreign affairs ministry and a specialist in relations with the EU. This appointment is expected to be made official on 25 May by the senior figures of the EuroMed process, the Arab countries having given their unanimous green light (or, in default of this, will state others, as Morocco is one of three countries in a position to deal with Israel). This selection had already been mentioned as a possibility since the departure of Jordan's Ahmed Massa'da, who failed in his mission to create a structure for the joint institution, based in Barcelona, and who was unable to mobilise sufficient resources for its functioning. The context did not make his job any easier, between the ups and downs of the peace process and the general vagueness of the UfM project. The backdrop of the expansion of the "Arab Spring" (and, incidentally, the Egyptian "demobilisation", Cairo being chef de file of the Arab group), caused additional uncertainty, which has contributed to the lack of eagerness on the part of any candidate from another country to challenge Mr Amrani for the secretary general job. Mr Amrani will be faced with the same climate and will have considerable scepticism to deal with.
The partner countries involved in this project, which was launched in 2008 by President Sarkozy, feel a very strong need to redefine the outlines of it and to decide on the nature and mission of the UfM. In words reported by the French media, Alain Juppé, the head of French diplomacy and co-president of the UfM, stressed the need to relaunch this joint structure. The method will be to "focus on concrete progress", such as the Mediterranean Solar Plan and the creation of a Mediterranean Office for Youth, "a kind of Erasmus for both shores of the sea". "The only way to stabilise population flows around the Mediterranean is not to build a wall along our borders - others have tried and failed - but to allow the immense youth of the South to realise its dream, which is to live in the country with work and in freedom", he added.
France's perception of this dialogue, which it initiated (summit of July 2008 in Paris), seems to have changed considerably, although the turning point was spoken of quite discreetly by Mr Juppé (to the special adviser to the French government, Henri Guaino, who favours the formula currently applied which led to a relative deadlock). France has already announced that it was prepared to give up its mandate as co-president of the UfM.
In a speech which virtually passed unnoticed, on 30 March of this year, before the committee on foreign affairs of the Assemblée nationale (French parliament), Mr Juppé clarified an important point on the institutional construction of dialogue - inter-governmental, as preferred by Mr Guaino and London, amongst others; or working directly with the European institutions, on the basis of the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon. "We must move forward with the reflection on creating a new foundation for institutional functioning, by responding to 2 requirements. The first is to ensure the involvement of the EU itself, and of all its Member States, in the process. In the new context created by the Treaty of Lisbon, therefore, it is appropriate that the President of the European Council, the High Representative, the new European External Action Service and the Commission can co-chair, each at their own level, the meetings of the UfM which come under their competence". "The EU must fully play its part, including at a political level", he said in his speech (which could constitute the charter of the new French approach (our translation throughout).
In his speech, he stressed the obligation for the EU to get increasingly involved in supporting the Arab democratic revolutions, in the peace process and in reducing the development gaps to cut the risk brought about by uncontrolled migratory flows. "Today, the upheavals underway on the southern shore show just how prescient this initiative (the UfM) was. They show the extent to which we share a community of destiny with our Mediterranean neighbours. If the partnership process which underpins the UfM reaches full fruition, it is today, when our dialogue partners are going to be new responsible governments which embody a desire for democratic change". (F.B./transl.fl)