Back to reality. The four lines added by the European Council to its conclusions last week, in the form of declaration in annex has put an end to the legal aspect of the quarrel about the EU's Mediterranean policy. There is no longer a new project separate to what already exists, just a change in name to The Barcelona process: a Union for the Mediterranean. The European Commission is now in charge of drawing up appropriate proposals for the summit that will bring participant countries together on 13 July in Paris.
Everything is now back as part of the Community framework and Nicolas Sarkozy needs to be thanked for his flexibility. It is the EU with its institutions and procedures that will take the European side of the project in hand. Rhetorical emphasis disappears. There is no longer any talk of the great dream of civilisation but rather, common projects that are as concrete as possible, such as cleaning up pollution from the Mediterranean or building the motorways of the sea. The incorporation of the region into a new Union with common and uniform shapes in the relationship between neighbouring third countries and the EU, has been abandoned. Each country on the other side of the Mediterranean basin can keep to its own goals, which are as we are aware, radically different (see this column in EUROPE 9623). This will allow them all to attend on 13 July in Paris - the Arab countries alongside Israel despite the conflict, Morocco alongside Algeria despite the closed borders, and perhaps in one form or other, Libya (which does not participate in the Barcelona process), as well as Mauritania and Jordan, which are not neighbouring countries. According to Angela Merkel, the objective is to add impetus to the Barcelona process, which will be taken to another level; the instrument will remain the same. Jean-Claude Juncker spoke about enriching the process.
An unfortunate comparison. The attempt to liken the Union for the Mediterranean project to the first stage of European unity (European Community of Steel and Coal: ECSC) is not serious. It is true that European unity began with a sectoral project but this project had been preceded by the end to conflicts, reconciliation, the will to live together, the creation of institutions and supranational mechanisms. To go down a similar road would first of all require an end to the conflict between Israel and Arab countries, as well as the smoothing out of other conflicts and for Mediterranean third countries themselves to plan on the setting up of a Community or Union, with supranational institutions and decisions decided on by a majority. Do they want this? Does such an objective correspond to their aspirations? It's up to them to provide the answer. No-one can predict what might happen one day but to affirm that such a project will be put into practice in three or four months' time means that either nothing has been understood about the political reality of the Mediterranean or that people are being fooled. Although the results of the Barcelona process have been disappointing, it is not the fault of mechanisms, secretariats or projects but because of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the disunity of the Maghreb and the rejection by Turkey (and others) of uniform objectives for all. Hence, one commentator wrote that the Mediterranean world is a long way off from becoming a united entity sharing common goals.
Efforts have to focus on concrete accomplishments and well-defined projects, whilst carefully avoiding political quarrels. It would already be a good thing to accomplish one or other of them, together.
Projects that work. It will be necessary at the same time to strengthen sub-regional or sectoral projects (such as textiles: EUROPE 9619), whose benefits and potential are already obvious. The Agadir Agreement aims to build the first common market on the southern side of the Mediterranean between Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan by tackling the practical aspects: reciprocal opening up of the markets, cumulation of rules of origin (for exports to Europe), cooperation between economic operators, coordination of investment. ICAMAS organises cooperation in agriculture in 13 neighbouring countries, EU members and third countries and has had encouraging results. FEMIP - the European Investment Bank (EIB) body - is active in nine Mediterranean third countries and its investments are multiplying, without even mentioning customs union between the EU and Turkey. These regional or sub-regional initiatives are much more effective than the great myth of the Euro-Mediterranean free trade zone, which by definition cannot exist as long as trade is not entirely liberalised between all participant countries. It is not going to be rhetorical or demagogic resolutions that the European Parliament votes for, without knowing what it is talking about, that will accomplish them.
Far from weakening the cooperation and results of the unitary project, criticism will actually strengthen it.
(F.R.)