The sixth summit of the Foreign Ministers of the Euro-Mediterranean Conference, that represents the 25 members of the EU and the states on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, was held in Naples on 2/3 December. Significant was the absence of the Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, who opposes the positions of the Italian government, judged “philo-Israeli”. “Common destiny was the phrase that formed the leitmotif of the work of the Conference. Middle East The Israeli-Palestinian conflict represented the central theme of the summit. The ministers unanimously expressed the conviction that the Road map represents the obligatory path to peace, and congratulated the parties in the conflict for the Geneva accords that revive the pact signed in April. “The objective says the final Declaration of Naples is the creation of two States”. EU opposition to the construction of the wall by the Sharon government was confirmed. Criticisms were also made of the administration of the aid granted by Brussels to the Quorei government and to Arafat’s ANP. Common structures With a view to obtaining peace and economic development and defeating intolerance and terrorism, the summit endorsed the establishment of at least three common structures for the Euro-Mediterranean Process begun at Barcelona in 1995: a “ Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly” composed of 240 representatives of 37 Euromed countries; a Euro-Mediterranean Foundation” and a “Euro-Mediterranean Bank”. Iraq The Foreign Ministers appealed to the EU to play “a significant role in Iraq’s political and economic reconstruction”. They also called on the UNO to play “a strong and vital role”. The summit, according to which a “realistic calendar” needs to be prepared for the transfer of political power to an indigenous government, proposed the “creation a multilateral and transparent donors’ fund for channelling the support of the international community”. Regions The conclusions of the Euromed summit accepted the requests of the “Inter-Institutional Conference of the peoples united by the Mediterranean”, held in Palermo on 27-28 November, with the mandate of “giving greater substance to the Barcelona Process” and “bringing the partnership closer to civil society”.
