Euro-Med Partnership back at centre stage

As November nears, a number of policy initiatives are seeking to ensure that a more coherent and constructive partnership between the 35 member countries is nurtured. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership is also being upgraded through the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which is seeking to focus on more short-term oriented Euro-Mediterranean confidence building measures.

The seventh official meeting of Euro-Med foreign ministers to be held under the auspices of the Luxembourg Presidency of the EU towards the end of May will take stock of the contemporary security situation in the area and discuss the work programme that the Euro-Med partners should focus on in the next few years. The EU Commission's recently published communication to the EU Council and EU Parliament on the tenth anniversary of the Euro-Med Partnership will provide a framework for addressing priority issues in the next five years.

This year the EU has already sought to strengthen relations with Mediterranean partner countries by negotiating Neighbourhood Action Plans with Jordan, Israel, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, and Tunisia. Negotiations are under way with Egypt and are envisaged to take place with Lebanon. The Neighbourhood Action Plans seeks to build upon the previously negotiated Euro-Med Association Agreements by focusing more closely on the political, economic and socio-cultural dimensions of the EMP.

At a political level the EU is concentrating on supporting political reform in countries along the southern shores of the Mediterranean by seeking to strengthen democratic and good governance practices and enhancing the dialogue on human rights. At an economic level the EU is seeking to increase the pace of reform by promoting trade, market and regulatory changes. At the socio-cultural level the EU is determined to enhance people to people contacts by dedicating more of its resources on education, research and development, cultural and civil societal programmes.

While the headline goal of a Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Peace and Stability remains a goal for the future, the necessity to create a collective security arrangement in the Mediterranean has never been more urgent. In a recent non-paper by the EU Presidency and the Council Secretariat that focused on relations between the EU and countries of the Mediterranean and the Middle East, a specific plea was made to tackle the problem of a security vacuum in the Mediterranean. The creation of such a security structure would enable the EMP states to address common challenges such as international terrorism, organised crime, the proliferation of small and light weapons and weapons of mass destruction, and illegal migration in a more coherent manner.

Progress registered in implementation of the Euro-Med Association Agreements (all partner countries have negotiated such an agreement) is gradually creating the context within which A Euro-Med Free Trade Area as envisaged in the Barcelona Declaration of 1995 can start functioning. The EU should now focus on supporting implementation of south-south free trade agreements on the basis of the Agadir Agreement which has already been signed by Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan. The establishment of a Euro-Mediterranean Development Bank is also a long overdue priority. Such an institution will contribute towards the goal of creating a more business friendly climate across the Mediterranean.

Malta has been a leading player in the Euro-Med Partnership since its launching in November 1995. As an EU member Malta has been defining its foreign policy interests in Europe and the Mediterranean by continuously promoting stronger political, economic and socio-cultural ties in different Euro-Med Partnership meetings.

The active co-operative stance Malta has taken on the Middle East in Brussels and in the region itself since becoming an EU member already demonstrate the confidence building credentials Malta brings to the table. The leading role Malta is playing in the 5 + 5 sub regional Euro-Med forum is further evidence of the important contribution Malta is making.

The Barcelona VII Euro-Med Ministerial in a few weeks time in Luxembourg and the Tenth Anniversary Meeting in November in Barcelona are also historic opportunities that all thirty-five Euro-Med states should take advantage of to advance the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership goals of peace, stability and prosperity.

Dr Calleya is an international relations analyst and the author of Evaluating Euro-Mediterranean Relations (Routledge, London 2005)