Brussels, 10/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 9 April, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn presented the format in which a ministerial conference will be held in Barcelona on Monday 13 April in preparation for the European neighbourhood policy (ENP) review. The meeting will bring together Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine on one side, and the member states of the EU and representatives from the EU institutions on the other.
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Hahn will co-chair this informal meeting, which has been organised by the EU - including the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU and Spain. Several European ministers are expected and Hahn said during a press conference that all the ministries of the prospective partner countries will be represented by their ministers - except for Israel and Morocco. Syria and Libya have not been invited. The secretaries general of the Arab League, the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) will be among the participants.
This will be, in one session, the opportunity for an “in-depth discussion” on the ENP review that has been announced for the autumn. Consultation of the partner countries will be carried out in several phases in each country in June. Lebanon has taken the initiative of organising a ministerial meeting in Beirut of just the Arab countries concerned. The EU will attend this.
A more consistent European neighbourhood policy will be of “crucial importance both for the EU and for our partners in the east and the south, at a time of great challenges to our border” and at a time of “great instability”, said Hahn. This “great instability can be seen in many areas” with a “terrorist threat that is increasingly expanding”. The meeting in Barcelona “will give us the chance not only to reaffirm our commitment but also to strengthen our cooperation for addressing the challenges, from a political, humanitarian and security point of view”. In Hahn's opinion, this is “our common interest and our common duty”.
According to Mogherini, the meeting in Barcelona will be an opportunity that “enables the situation in the region to be spoken about too”, as well as terrorism and migration. The ENP “as it stands at the moment does not fully exploit the potential of our relations” with these partners, and the intention is reportedly “to change this situation”, Mogherini said. (Fathi B'Chir)