Brussels, 05/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - The group of senior officials from the twenty-seven countries involved in the Barcelona process who are part of the follow-up committee will be meeting in Brussels on 7 September for a general overview of activities in preparation for the informal summit to be held on 5/6 November 2001. As is known, after the formal Marseilles summit in November 2000, it was decided to make a thorough review of the entire Euromediterranean process in order to avoid being held back by the situation in the Middle East and, more importantly, to rehash the highly lambasted working methods and meeting style. This rethink has not held work back in any area apart from the draft Peace and Stability Charter, which has provisionally been put on ice.
Friday's meeting will look at all pending dossiers although no concrete decisions are expected in the near future. Progress will be noted in discussions over relatively important issues (cumulation of origin, harmonisation of standards, etc). In addition, the senior officials will consider progress in the negotiations over the bilateral Association Agreements, (Algeria and the Lebanon are believed to be nearing the end of the process but Syria is stalling somewhat) and the ratification process (there has been some delay in approving the Agreement with Jordan). The good news since Marseilles has been the implementation of the Agreement with Egypt. The Agadir Agreement between four Mediterranean countries (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan), the first "horizontal" integration project between EU partner countries, will also be discussed on Friday
Moreover, various projects are still on the drawing board concerning industry, the environment and justice and internal affairs, but discussions on the last topic appear to be progressing "reasonably well". For example, a group of experts met up in Montpellier in June 2001 where they managed to draw up a "framing document" to be fleshed out by the participating countries responding to questions about: legal immigrants and their living and residency conditions, free circulation, stemming the flow of illegal immigrants, refugees, fighting organised crime and setting up a legal cooperation system between countries in the region. EU sources suggest that it will be a question of encouraging multiple "bridges" between the different legal systems and encouraging dialogue between legal and administrative professionals (training magistrates and managers, etc).
The most significant progress is expected to fall under the "Social and Cultural" affairs heading: legal and internal matters concerning immigration and cooperation between women's groups (which held a forum last year). Progress under the first heading, "Political and Security Dialogue", is feeling the impact of the deterioration of the situation in the Middle East. As is their wont, the senior officials will be meeting up the day before the summit on 6 September, precisely in order to discuss these political issues and they are expected to comment on the blocking of the peace process. Another point on the agenda on the first day will be an analysis of cooperation in disaster prevention (a mutual aid and information network has already been set up), human rights in the region and the activities of the Euromediterranean Network of Political Research Institutes (EUROMESCO).