Age of Muslim priority. Why not, just for once, stress the positive aspects of the historical and cultural relations between Europe and the Muslim world? Of course, it's a history of conflicts - but it's also a history of collaboration and shared knowledge. From around the year 800 AD, Arabs safeguarded and studied the most ancient civilisations - with those of Greece and Rome at the forefront - adding their own discoveries and progress such as in astronomy, algebra (an Arab term), and the figure zero (which was already well-known in India apparently). Around the year 1000 and afterwards, the Muslim civilisation was far more advanced than the European in several domains. Greek and Latin texts (and even in a few cases Chinese) were translated into Arabic. The reform of astronomy was Arab - before the arrival of Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo.
In the initial phase, the spirit was for knowledge and culture, not for fanaticism or war! How and why did the civilisations that were developed in this mindset then largely give priority to intolerance and hatred? The responsibility is shared - but on the European side, openness and balance have made regular progress while, on the other side, the negative aspect continues and sometimes worsens, to the detriment of women's rights in particular, and women's freedom and equality with men.
True motivation. Why does the Muslim culture not inspire more of what it once was? Let's leave aside the intra-Muslim wars that are so atrocious in Syria and its surroundings - that's their problem. In my opinion, Europe should intervene as little as possible and its member states should be wiser. It's true that the behaviour of European countries - and even more so Russia - do not allow religious, or what is claimed to be religious, reasons influence them. Yet the EU itself should rather leave to the Muslim world the responsibility for, and downsides of, their wars and internal turmoil in Syria, Egypt and elsewhere. And if the EU had a true common foreign policy, it could play a clearer and more uniform role.
The reality. Europe as a whole should take into consideration that, if the religious element bears enormous weight in a Muslim country, that's the Muslim country's business. In Europe, the state is secular, with religion being a personal matter for each citizen. The EU should never stray from this principle. Certain behaviour, in one or other member state, influenced sometimes by the financing of a football team, does not constitute a Community position. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), which theoretically brings together all the countries bordering the Mediterranean, is totally ineffective on the political level. Let me add to the elements that have already been published in this column, the explanations that were given to the French Senate last month by the head of the foreign affairs committee, Simon Sutour, in his role as a French member of the parliamentary assembly of the UfM (PA-UfM). This assembly is jointly led by a European parliamentarian and a parliamentarian from a Muslim country - but currently only a Moroccan and a Jordanian can obtain consensus for the post. Every other candidate is reportedly rejected by one or other of the countries that have to nominate him. What a lovely example of solidarity - this explains, then, the effectiveness of the whole UfM. Leaving Martin Schulz to one side, no one gives any importance to this body. And in his report, Mr Sutour did not hold back in providing details on the reasons for the UfM's ineffectiveness - the Palestinian conflict, Libyan insecurity, hostility between Morocco and Algeria, the growing importance of Turkey, economic decline, differences between so-called moderate Islam and Salafist Islam. And Morsi had not been overthrown at the time of Sutour's report…
The Southern Mediterranean does not want to become a whole. In the context set out above, strengthening the EU's ties with the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean was seen as a positive element by the French Senate - but with a difference. These countries do not want to act together but want to consolidate, each individually, their specific relations with the EU and not to compromise existing relations with the Community institutions (European Parliament and European Commission) or with certain member states.
The conclusion seems evident. The EU neither has the possibility of, nor the interest in, establishing an overall uniform policy with the Muslim shores of the Mediterranean, and it must not take position on the conflicts that are currently ongoing or that are to come. On the contrary, it must relaunch its relations with the four countries of the southern shore (Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco). These countries want this and indeed need it. Yet this must be brought about through respecting the principles of reciprocity, in the legal and political domains. (FR/transl.fl)