Tampere, 27/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - The ministerial conference on Monday and Tuesday in Tampere (Finland) immediately stumbled upon the issue of Palestine. Discussions about the draft conclusions, about which we still do not know whether they will be in common or just come from the Finnish presidency speaking on behalf of the EU, were the subject of bitter debates, the evening before on Sunday, at an ambassadors' level. In fact, Israel rejected the first chapters of the project submitted by the EU and which illustrate the political genesis of the Barcelona Process. The presidency of the EU tried its best to unblock the situation and not leave Israel isolated among the 35 countries making up the Barcelona Process. Despite this blockage, the acting president of the EU appeared optimistic and was hoping to get a solution at the dinner between ministers on Monday evening. The same optimism was shared by Leila Shahid, Palestinian representative to Brussels. She informed EUROPE that the blockage “is not important”. She considers that the discussions at dinner will be much more important. The Israeli foreign affairs minister, Tzipi Livni, and Nabil Shaat, special envoy for the Palestinian president, will take part in the conference together with all their counterparts, apart from the Lebanese minister who has resigned. Ms Shahid believes that this plenary meeting between heads of diplomacy of the EU and Middle East Mediterranean zone will come at an opportune moment, the announcement of the cease-fire, approved by prime minister Ehud Olmert. At least at “an oral level” Mr Olmert “appears to express a desire” to renew dialogue. Ms Shahid called on the EU to rethink its sanctions policy imposed since the arrival of the Hamas government in power because “it is just punishing the Palestinian people and giving Israel the opportunity to not pay the taxes owed to the Palestinians”. She also hopes that the meeting will lead to a revision of the US approach in the region at a time when the Bush administration is stumbling along in the face of a worsening situation in Iraq and the Middle East in general. It would be “aware of the EU now being ready to play a leading role”, which it does not want to grant it. Ms Shahid paid a vibrant homage to the Finnish presidency and its foreign affairs minister for their active commitment to peace. The “Fondazione Mediterraneo”, based in Italy, also formally awarded Erkki Tuomioja a prize in Tampere, underlining his role in the Middle East dossier. (fb)