Brussels, 03/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - Elisabeth Guigou, a special envoy for North Africa under the man likely to win the French presidential elections this week, called on 2 May in Algiers for a new approach to EuroMed relations and reform of the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean).
In an interview with El Watan newspaper, Guigou said that a new direction was needed in Europe and she personally had a strong European feeling that made her sensitive to the still painful joint history of France and North Africa, particularly Algeria. She said that colonialism is disgusting, but existed in the past and has left very strong cultural, human and economic ties, which now need to be turned into a common destiny. She said that immigration existed and it made no sense to have a fortress barricading itself off, dividing up families and preventing development without any paternalism or neo-colonialism. Europe must stop being a fortress closed-in on itself, she said, adding that the UfM initiative is in a dead-end not only because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also because the negotiations have sadly and worryingly disappeared from the mainstream. She explained that the UfM had not got off to a good start politically, with Nicolas Sarkozy initially only considering it applying to southern EU countries, when in fact all member states need to be on board. Things have also been complicated by European support for dictatorships.
Guigou said the UfM has to be reconsidered, perhaps by a 5+5 group (of western Mediterranean countries) before having a larger meeting covering the wider Mediterranean and a multilateral approach among equals, involving groups like UMA (Union du Maghreb Arabe), the African Union (AU), northern European countries new to the EuroMed and EuroMed dialogue with the whole of Africa. All forms of tangible cooperation need to be encouraged, she said, including economic cooperation and civil society cooperation. Former French minister of justice and former MEP Guigou said that the development of Europe needed to be seen as going hand-in-hand with the development of Africa, with mutual respect of rights and the sovereignty of every community. (FB/transl.fl)