Brussels, 10/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 10 February, the Committee of Senior Officials of the 43 countries of the Euro-Mediterranean area appointed Moroccan diplomat Fathallah Sijilmassi to the post of secretary general of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).
Sijilmassi, who is currently the director of the Moroccan Development and Investment Agency, has been his country's ambassador to the EU and then to France. He takes over from his fellow countryman Youssef Amrani, who has been appointed the minister delegate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in the new government led by Islamist Abdelilah Benkirane.
Sijilmassi is a “technocrat”, more in line with the call, repeated by the Committee of Senior Officials, for a secretary general who focuses more on identifying projects and seeking funding than on ambitions of a political role. The first UfM secretary general, Jordanian Ahmad Massa'deh, resigned from the post only a few months after his appointment. His successor was strongly criticised at the last meeting by the ambassadors of member countries for politically exceeding his mandate when the UfM is struggling to get projects for which it is responsible off the ground, because of lack of funding - and this includes the funding of its own budget, half of which is provided by the European Commission. It is believed in Brussels that Sijilmassi's appointment will have a calming effect on all.
The joint presidents of the UfM still have to be named: Egypt intends to hand over its mandate, but there are few candidates willing to take over. On the European side, under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, it is the EU high representative or her representative who will assume this role. (FB/transl.rt)