Brussels, 30/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - At the Transformation in the Southern Mediterranean: it's all about dialogue colloquium that took place in Naples (Italy) on Tuesday 28 October, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle gave his testament at the end of his mission of being responsible for relations with the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean.
“In my five years as Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, during which we have witnessed tumultuous changes in the neighbourhood, there have been setbacks and some successes. Throughout, I have tried to ensure that civil society is present in the different relations between Europe and the neighbouring countries, and that those relationships are based on fairness, equal participation and transparency”, he said.
In Füle's view, Europe “has tried, not always successfully, to help bring the people into the complicated equations of governance in the region”. Addressing the citizens of the Mediterranean countries directly, he added: “And then in 2011 you rewrote the script. You said enough is enough. You took to the streets with your protests and demands for freedom and dignity. You won your way into the living rooms and hearts of the watching world. Your bravery came at a huge cost. Europe responded, and continues to adapt to the new circumstances. We have got some things right and some things wrong. We too have had to rewrite our script and are still on a learning curve. We need to not just change our programmes and policies, but also our mind-sets. We could have done better. There is lots of room for improvement. I do not want to talk about success or failure except to say that we tried and continue to try. The real failure is in not trying”. (FB)