Brussels, 23/09/14 (Agence Europe) - Jordan's mandate as copresident of the UfM (Union for the Mediterranean) has been extended by a further two years. The other co-presidency is assumed by the EU, in this case, by the European External Action Service (since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on the Union's diplomatic representation). This extension takes place in a difficult context, particularly marked by a lack of political determination in the cooperation between the two sides of the Mediterranean, which has not been able to intensify, despite the fact that it was presented as one of the priorities in European external policy.
The decision to grant this new mandate was made official at the beginning of last week by senior officials in charge of the Euro-Mediterranean process, which represents 43 member countries of the UfM, including EU member states. No other country from the southern banks of the Mediterranean was a candidate. There are few countries on the southern rim that would be able to assume such a function, which would mean having a relationship with Israel, that is, nevertheless, a founding member of the UfM. Only Jordan and Egypt and to a lesser extent, Morocco, are able to assume this role and have already established contact with Israel, whose representative is among the deputy secretaries general of the UfM. Another one of the six is Palestinian, Naser Tahboub.
The mandate conferred on Jordan is, however, being renewed in a context that is far from easy. The Euro-Mediterranean process is still a work in progress that has particularly suffered from setbacks such as those stemming from the Middle Eastern conflict. The recent confrontation between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is still affecting perceptions in this connection, to the extent that Arab countries, at the request of the Palestinian delegation (according to a number of different sources), asked during the Senior Officials' meeting on 15 September in Brussels for the postponement of all the ministerial sessions planned for the end of this year. The decision is expected to be confirmed or rejected during a meeting is due to be organised this week by the Arab League, which is itself an observer at the UfM. Egypt is in charge of coordinating the Arab group.
The two ministerial meetings initially planned for 30 September in Brussels will be on the digital economy and trade. With regard to the latter, the political obstacle to the meeting being held is compounded by reservations regarding the way in which it should be arranged. Southern Mediterranean rim countries still believe that this meeting has not been sufficiently prepared.
The impact of the Israeli-Arab process is still weighing down on the dialogue within the UfM and effectively led to the breakdown in the Barcelona process. But that alone is not enough to explain the slow development of cooperation. The determination of member countries on both sides of the Mediterranean appears to have somewhat been dampened in the political, security, economic and budgetary context at the present time. The UfM has benefited from direct EU budget funding for the operational functioning of its secretariat general but is, however, struggling to raise the funding for projects that have been devised on a modular geographic basis according to the “variable geometric” formula, which has been developed as a means to prevent countries that harbour misgivings about having to enter into contact with their Israeli counterparts.
There are hopes, however, regarding the determination demonstrated by the current Italian presidency of the EU. The latter has made a number of announcements in this connection, particularly with regard to new cooperation structures including the Mediterranean Investment Coordination Initiative (MICI) whose broad guidelines have at this stage only been outlined. The transition phase currently being experienced by the European institution compounds the difficult budgetary context and is subsequently impacting on the hopes regarding the relaunch.
Another sensitive issue currently being examined involves the way in which the Anna Lindh cultural foundation in Alexandria is functioning. Senior posts will need to be updated because they have now come to the end of their respective mandates. The presidency of the foundation operates on a rotating basis and for the next four years, it should be assumed by a European; but it will be a national from a southern Mediterranean rim country that will occupy the executive director position in an exchange of posts for the management of this institution. This dossier was examined by senior officials on 15 September last and once again revealed the difficulties involved in managing the Euro-Mediterranean process. So far, the EU has not put forward a candidate for the post available to it. For the second post of director, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia are competing with one another, which again creates a problem that has often been denounced because the posts appear to be monopolised by just a few countries. The EU has expressed its reservations regarding the implicit sidelining of the two non-Arab members from the southern Mediterranean rim, Turkey and Israel. It also has reservations about the way in which the foundation is managed and according to information we have received, these doubts have reached such an extent that an audit will be carried out into the organisation's accounts and for which its mission could be redefined. (FB)