Brussels, 10/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - In a speech marking the 40th anniversary of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), Romano Prodi said that the time had come for "the Union to shoulder all its responsibilities and create a new political project for the Mediterranean. Step by step, notwithstanding our institutional difficulties, which are still much in evidence in the field of foreign policy, we are succeeding in becoming an international reference point for a lasting solution to the current tensions and conflicts and we must play a key role at the international peace conference we have some time been calling for".
Prodi continued, "We must maintain and deepen political dialogue with all the players in the area, to meet together the major international challenges: the fight against terrorism and unlawful trafficking, human rights and democracy, economic and social development and new forms of governance…. and develop our cultural dialogue". "For this reason, we strongly support all initiatives aimed at deepening political dialogue, such as the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean parliamentary assembly, which was decided in Valencia in April"; creating "new financial instruments, starting with a special European Investment Bank fund"; creating a "Euro-Mediterranean Foundation to promote dialogue between cultures and civilisations… and the extension of the Tempus university co-operation programme to the Mediterranean".
Prodi highlighted the EU's desire to lay "the foundations for a good-neighbour policy with all our Mediterranean partners. A policy which, in view of the forthcoming enlargement, is aimed at gradually extending our policies to the areas around the enlarged Union. I am thinking here of the arc that runs from Russia to the Mediterranean, taking in Ukraine and the Balkans, to which we want to export our stability and prosperity and together with which we are gradually developing our own new philosophy of international relations, combining the extending of bilateral relations and the promotion of integration and cooperation between the nearby areas".
Prodi raised the controversial issue of free agriculture trade between the EU and its Mediterranean partners, "the creation of a free trade area should not be regarded as an end in itself… but rather as one of the instruments for dialogue, interchange and rapprochement between the two sides of the Mediterranean… Liberalisation of the farm sector always rouses strong feelings among farmers, economic operators and public authorities in the countries concerned" and is "often pointed to as a source of difficulties and a threat to the market. And there is a further problem. The typical products for which our Mediterranean partners are seeking preferential access are the same as those produced by the southern Member States of the EU, while the key products for export to the Mediterranean countries come from the north of Europe. This is a potential source of tension that we cannot ignore".