EU needs to develop its own ME policy - de Marco

The European Union should assume a more active role in the Middle East and draw up its own policy on the region, President Emeritus Guido de Marco said yesterday.

Addressing the European and Foreign Affairs Committee on the theme Malta in the Commonwealth and the Barcelona Process, the former Foreign Minister said that although the EU had its own limitations, it also had political clout which could be much better utilised than it was at present.

The EU should not clash with the United States on the Middle East, but this did not mean that the EU should not have its own policy, more so as it was one of the biggest stakeholders and one of the largest donors in the region. The EU should have a policy for the Middle East based on the logic of persuasion, which was the basis of democracy.

Prof. de Marco insisted that the EuroMed process could not gain ground without a solution of the Middle East problem and to the problems of poverty and unemployment in the southern Mediterranean.

There needed to be a policy which made sense, which brought about greater synergy between the Arab world and the EU. Europe needed the oil which was supplied from the Arab countries while the Arab countries needed the technology which Europe had developed.

Prof. de Marco said he had a dream of a Middle East where Israel, Jordan and Palestine worked together and became the Benelux of the Middle East. These countries had no future in war, their only future was in cooperation.

It was true that this was a dream, but without the courage of dreams, power would belong to those who wanted to see a clash of civilisations.

The former President insisted that it was wrong to blame terrorism on Arabs or on Islam because in so doing, one would be condemning whole countries and peoples.

Referring to the conflict in the Middle East, he said that Malta was a neutral state which did not support one country against another. But it understood that the Palestinians were being denied the right to have their own state, while the Israelis were being denied their right to live in security.

However, one could not speak about terrorism and continue denying a people the right to have their own state. Terrorism should be condemned without any reservation but one should also look into its cause.

Replying to a question by committee chairman Jason Azzopardi as to what the EU could do to effectively show its clout in the region, Prof. de Marco said Europe was forking out the most money in aid and it had the biggest stake for peace in the Middle East. Yet its voice was not a primary one. Was this wise? With the stakes for Europe being so high, there was no reason why Europe should not be trusted by the countries involved. Europe also knew the history of the Middle East better than anyone else. So there were many reasons why it should take a more active role.

Prof. de Marco recalled that in Barcelona 10 years ago, Malta had proposed a charter for stability for the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, this was still being discussed since there was not the political will to implement it.

But the Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean, proposed by Labour MP George Vella, had taken form. Although small, this was a step forward.

Progress had been made on the economic aspect of the Barcelona Process and a Mediterranean free trade area should be established by 2010. However, this would have a very limited effect if it did not take into account agriculture and services.

Dr Vella said the idea behind the EuroMed Process had been the promotion of stability and understanding in the region. Unfortunately, these targets were still very far from being reached. He pointed out that one could not invest in the south unless there was political stability, good and stable financial legislation, an assured market and an educated workforce. This and the meaning of democracy were currently being discussed in EuroMed's political committee.

But the people of the southern Mediterranean were insisting with the European states not to try to impose their democracy, arguing that they had their own home-grown democracy. However there had to be agreement on the basic fundamentals. This was a primary difficulty, which, unless overcome, prevented the countries from speaking a common language.

Prof. de Marco, who heads the Commonwealth Foundation, said that Malta's imprint in the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting should be one in favour of solidarity in the widest sense of the word.

The Commonwealth should serve as a platform of dialogue between religions - one of the biggest religions in the Commonwealth being Islam. This aspect, he said, had not yet been taken up.

"The dialogue of religions has yet to be created."

The Commonwealth, which included the presence of several faiths, could be one means of bringing about the dialogue of civilisations. Malta, a Christian state with full respect to Islam - the religion of countries just a few kilometres away - believed in the need for this dialogue.

Another imprint Malta should make during the Commonwealth was that the "poverty curtain" was more impenetrable than the famous "iron curtain".

Malta should also bring to the fore the issue of illegal migration.

Prof. de Marco said that although Malta would always remain a small country, it should remain relevant, and not just be a spectator. Relevance came from ideas and thus, in the past, Malta had "punched" much beyond its size.

At the beginning of yesterday's meeting, Dr Azzopardi noted that this was the first time that a former President was addressing a parliamentary committee.

Prof. de Marco said he had founded the committee together with Dr Vella and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, then Speaker of the House and it was nostalgic for him to be invited to address the committee.