Brussels, 23/05/2000 (Agence Europe) - The foreign ministers of the 27 countries of the "Barcelona Process" have agreed to meet in Lisbon on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 May at the invitation of the Portuguese Presidency for an informal session of talks on the guidelines and working methods in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean dialogue launched in Barcelona in November 1995. This meeting, of the same type as the one held in Palermo in June 1998, was, notably, raised at Monday's General Affairs Council in Brussels, that confirmed its informal nature; it will not end with the publication of a joint communiqué nor formal conclusions. According to Mr. Neves, spokesman for the Portuguese Presidency, it will provide "an opportunity for foreign ministers to exchange their views freely without structured agenda". The question of the Peace Process in the Middle East will be raised over dinner Thursday evening.
The 27 thus hope to reproduce the results achieved in the Sicilian capital that had in fact led to the rekindling of the Process, whereas lack of progress had made a failure of the ministerial session in Malta, in April 1997. The new guidelines to have emerged in Palermo -more as to the working method than to substance - were then ratified by the 3rd formal session in Strasbourg in April 1999.
This time, in Lisbon, the heads of diplomacy of the 27 countries (Libya will simply be an observer) will have to define the conditions for rekindling this dialogue between the two shores of the Mediterranean. The hope then is to break what seems to be a standstill and which, it is generally agreed, demands a refining of the goals and working methods of the different existing sectoral structures - specialised meetings, technical working groups - in anticipation of the 4th formal session which will be held, under the French Presidency, in Marseille in November (and no longer in Cannes as envisaged) and that could be coupled with a "summit" meeting. French President Chirac has not ruled out inviting the Heads of Government of the 27 countries if the political climate in the Middle East allows.
In a letter to his colleagues, the President-in-Office of the Council, Jaime Gama, said that the aim of the Lisbon meeting would be to "provide the process with a momentum, process to which, on both sides of the Mediterranean, we are committed. I shall try to promote a frank and open discussion on the different aspects of the Partnership, keeping well in mind the challenges posed by the consolidation of each priority field of action established by the Barcelona Declaration. I am convinced that the recommendations we shall make at the informal meeting will represent an enriching basis for the Euro-Mediterranean Conference" (that aforementioned session in Marseille).
The meeting in Lisbon will be prepared on Thursday at ambassadorial lelvel and begin late afternoon with a short session followed by a dinner at which, Mr. Gama stipulates in his letter, ministers will discuss "frankly and informally, issues of a political nature of interest to the region". He proposes briefing the Mediterranean ministers on recent EU initiatives regarding defence and the "Common European Strategy" for the Mediterranean. The following day, ministers will proceed with an "assessment of progress" achieved on the draft Charter on Peace and Stability, and then an "assessment of the economic and financial partnership", especially the perspectives that will be attached to the financial instrument MEDA (2000-2006). The EU foreign ministers discussed MEDA on Monday, and Chris Patten pleaded in favour of a new mode of functioning and a 47% increase (in payments and not commitments, he stipulated), but without convincing ministers. "We have not progressed enough" observes the Portuguese spokesman.
The southern partner countries place emphasis on body being give to the third chapter of cooperation, the social and cultural chapter that they believe has so far been ignored. The informal session of Lisbon will be devoted to the conditions under which the meeting of Marseille will take place. We have reason to believe that the Fifteen, anyway, intend speaking once more about the revived "Mediterranean Strategy" project on which on Monday they noted their differences, not as to substance but on whether or not to do something other than the current Barcelona Process, "as long as there is no new substance" to add, French sources tell us.
Finally, there remains the issue of Libya's participation in the Process. The Fifteen are still waiting for an explanatory letter from Tripoli proving that its accession to the Process is serious. Meanwhile, a delegation of the Jamahirya will be present in Lisbon as "special guest of the Presidency.".