Brussels, 16/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On the eve of the plenary session of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) in Tunis from 16 to 18 March, a report adopted by the European Parliament on Thursday 15 March indicated the great disappointment felt by MEPs. Through this report on creating a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area by 23010, Parliament highlighted the lack of effort made by European partners since the Barcelona Declaration of November 1005. French Socialist Kader Arif noted that, 12 years later, “results are at the very least mixed” and “integration of Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEM) countries into the European economic and social area would not appear to have been a priority”. Because of this lack of will, it is unlikely the 2010 deadline will be met.
Stating that the European Union had failed to live up to the Barcelona targets, the report criticised the insufficiency of funding made available for financial and technical assistance to local economies. It could only welcome the creation of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), to meet the costs of the European neighbourhood Policy (ENP). MEPs, however, felt the €11 million allocated by the Council was not enough and demanded that that the budget be increased when the financial perspective is reviewed in 2008-2009, taking account of the progress made in each country in terms of human rights, protection of workers (both women and men), protection of the environment, regional integration and improvements in the quality of local public services and cultural and education services. MEPs felt that, while consensus was being reached among the various EU member states, the proposed Euro-Mediterranean Development Bank could be launched, and that, in the first phase, interested countries, both European and from the southern rim, should be involved.
There remain sectoral policies. In agriculture, the report argued for gradual asymmetrical liberalisation. Also mentioned was the development of a common Euro-Mediterranean labelling policy for protected designations of origin. As for services, MEPs called on the Commission to not to force the hand of the SEM countries, which particularly wanted public services to be kept out of negotiations, on market liberalisation. Finally, the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean energy market was to be welcomed, to be able to meet the challenges of the moment.
The Parliament also adopted a resolution calling for the conflict in the Middle East to be resolved. This resolution reminded Euro-Mediterranean governments of the commitments they made under the Barcelona Declaration on respect for diversity, beliefs and culture, as also promotion of tolerance and respect for fundamental freedoms, including of expression. The issue of migratory fluxes was also discussed. MEPs would like to see the fight against human exploitation and trafficking stepped up, and called for an increase in the FRONTEX budget.
Council President in office, Gernot Erler, while accepting that the ambitious targets of the Barcelona Process had not all been met, said that the Process was still an instrument that should not be given up, and one which must not be replaced with the new EU Neighbourhood Policy, which had a complementary role to play. “A sea which has been an area for confrontation can become an area for cooperation,” Mr Erler added, quoting former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. To get there, there had to be progress on several fronts, particularly the economic development of the Mediterranean countries, since there could be no stability without relative prosperity. One of the main ways of achieving this goal was the creation of a EuroMed free trade area by the highly symbolic date of 2010. There already were bilateral agreements, but there had to be a gradual move to another level, taking account of the advantages and dangers for the Mediterranean countries. There also had to be encouragement of south-south cooperation and foreign direct investment (an ad hoc investment working group will meet on 23 April), and also social progress, because growth is not everything. The ultimate aim was an area of peace, stability and dialogue.
The Mediterranean was a place of inter-dependence between the 27 EU countries and the counties of the southern rim: this inter-dependence, said Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, was political and economic, but also cultural, demographic and environmental. The EU must be able to offer “something appealing” to the Mediterranean countries, and the German presidency would work towards this end in cooperation with the future Portuguese presidency and the Commission. Three conferences were planned for 2007, on social affairs, trade and immigration. This last issue having been raised by several MEPs, Mr Mandelson said after the debate that detailed proposals would be brought forward at this conference. In 2007, the EU would also draw up the arrangements for a number of action plans, particularly Horizon 2020 for depolluting the sea and the Istanbul Plan on women's role in society, and also arrangements for bringing the free trade area into force. Structural constraints had sometimes slowed the proper development of the Barcelona Process, but its objective, the creation of “shared prosperity” in a peaceful region was still of great value, Mr Mandelson said.
The rapporteur, Mr Arif, said that a hope had been born with the Barcelona Process, but the Neighbourhood Policy had come along and diluted that hope somewhat. In the face of the huge asymmetry between the EU and its Mediterranean interlocutors from the economic and social points of view, Mr Arif stressed that trade had to serve development and argued for a progressive, controlled free trade area, adapted to the situation of the countries involved, but the risks of weakening the economy of some countries whose agriculture was uncompetitive and undiversified could not be ignored. The EP foreign affairs committee, in its relations with Mediterranean countries, stressed human rights, democratic reform and the search for an “upstream” solution to the problem of immigration, said Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia). Speaking for the agriculture committee, Jean-Claude Fruteau (PES) supported balanced trade liberalisation of benefit particularly to small-scale farmers and strengthening of trade preferences. Peace in the region was fundamental for many MEPs: without peace, EU action could not match EU ambition, said Vito Bonsignore (EPP-ED) and Luis Morgantini (GUE/NGL), and Philippe Morillon (ALDE). Mr Morillon was concerned about the fate of Lebanon: the EU had not played first the intervention role, then the mediation role that might have been expected of it: Would now be a better time? The effects of the Neighbourhood Policy on the Lisbon Strategy was of concern to many MEPs, particularly Pasqualina Napolitano (PES), who felt there was a risk of “fragmentation”, while Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN) was not against the policy, as long as it remained as a complement to the Lisbon Process and did not become a substitute for it. Europe had to be ready to make financial commitments to ease the problems that new trade relations could create of some Mediterranean countries, said Maltese MEP Simon Busuttil (EPP-ED). Hélène Flautre (Greens/EFA) lamented that, only a few days before the opening of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Tunis, scant regard was paid to human rights and journalists were being held. The relaunch of the Barcelona Process could only be successful with the full involvement of civil society. French MEP Tokia Saifi (EPP-ED), who chairs the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly policy committee, called on Euro-Mediterranean peoples to strengthen the dialogue between civilisations in a region that was very rich historically. Europe should help to reduce unemployment, particularly among the young, in the countries of the South and combat the trade imbalance which was the cause of growing poverty. Portuguese Socialist Jamila Madeira agreed with this, saying poverty was the number one problem. In the report on this issue that she will present in Tunis, she says that the aim of “zero poverty” should not be simply a slogan. Conservative Edward McMillan-Scott welcomed the recent agreement with Egypt, but noted that there continued to be repression in that country and that parliamentarians had been arrested. The EU, he regretted, “has failed to stand by the principles we are supposed to represent”. Mr McMillan-Scott felt that the creation of “political families” in the countries of the Mediterranean would help regularise political debate. (lg)