Brussels, 31/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The twenty-seven Foreign Ministers of the EU and the twelve countries on the banks of the Mediterranean will be meeting in Brussels on 5/6 November as part of the Barcelona Process for a mid-term review between two formal ministerial meetings. All the countries involved in the process will be there (including Syria and Lebanon which had not attended the Marseilles meeting in November 2000). Libya, UMA (Arab Maghreb Union) and the Arab League will be attending as observers.
The meeting opens on Monday afternoon and will be devoted mainly to political discussions. On Tuesday, "human" issues will be discussed with the ministers apparently not wishing to repeat the Marseilles meeting's omission of this subject. Spain and Sweden have already announced they are planning to put forward a joint proposal to this effect (see EUROPE of 29/30 October, p.6). There will also be detailed discussions of the European coordination project in justice and home affairs, but this is not expected to produce results at this stage. The meeting will then consider economic and financial co-operation. The Commission is planning to present its most recent assessments of the use of financial resources (which has shown a sharp improvement) and the issue of harmonising rules of origin will also be raised.
After the meeting, no final joint declaration will be made, but the media will receive conclusions which might contain a section on terrorism.
A breakfast meeting against the backdrop of the meeting will enable the Belgian Presidency to discuss the specific free exchange zone plan with the relevant countries (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan).
Another subject: Israeli-Palestinian relations. The announcement by the Belgian Presidency's spokesperson that Yasser Arafat would be in Brussels on Monday has raised speculations about a Shimon Peres/Arafat meeting since the Israeli will definitely be attending the ministerial conference.