A more active EU

“Euro-Mediterranean Heads of Government and States convened in Paris on July 13, 2008 animated by the joint political will to revive efforts aimed at transforming the Mediterranean in a place of peace, democracy, cooperation and prosperity. The delegates agreed upon the adoption of the following joint statements…”. These are the introductory words of the final declaration of the summit which past Sunday brought to the Grand Palais of the French capital 43 leaders from the two shores of the “mare nostrum” (the only absent guest was Lybia’s leader Gheddafi) to sign a political cooperation agreement on the wake of the Barcelona Process, dating back to 1995, and to “baptize” the newborn Union for the Mediterranean whose acronym is UfM. First objective: the construction of peace. The important meeting promoted under the leadership of French President Nicholas Sarkozy, who is the President-in-Office of the EU Council, in addition to the expected and sumptuous ceremonial, enabled to bring around the same table friend Countries as well as those still engaged in conflicting relations, with the purpose of stabilizing the region and creating a joint-venture between the UE-27 and the opposite shore of the Mediterranean. The mediatic stage was mostly occupied by President Sarkozy and by the leadership of Israel, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, who thanks to the mediation of the French President were engaged in talks, which appeared to anticipate future developments in view of stability and peace in the Middle East. In his closing remarks, President Nicolas Sarkozy declared: “We will not refrain from making efforts aimed at facilitating dialogue. The EU hasn’t been sufficiently present politically in the Middle East. According to the EU’s President-in-Office, Palestinians, Israelis, Syrians and Lebanese “want peace, thus Europe and France have the duty to support them with all means, even with military guarantees”. Shared governance, factual solidarity. Paris’ summit had been announced with the purpose of “deepening and giving new impetus to Euro-Mediterranean relations”, by promoting the original objectives of the Barcelona Process, which had envisaged the creation of a “place of peace, security, and prosperity between the two shores”. This took place at the Grand Palais. On the agenda were also other issues such as “environmental and energy problems, with proposals for “maritime clean-up”; responses to the worsening of natural disasters and to the lack of transport infrastructures; “the challenges brought about by economic and social development”, including migrations; the question of security. Among the operative elements at the basis of the Union for the Mediterranean Project, coordinated jointly by the French President with his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, figure: “High-level political engagements marked by summits between heads of government and State every two years” (whereas foreign ministers will convene once a year); “egalitarian governance embodied by North-South co-presidency and an equal permanent secretariat”. Priority was given to “regional concrete projects aimed at the implementation of factual solidarity”. Six concrete projects. The reading of the summit’s final document enables to understand the framework of the new UfM. In addition to the strategic objectives and to the institutions of the Union, which will include all 27 EU Countries along with those bordering on the Southern and Eastern shores, (Albania, Algeria, Palestinian Authority, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, , Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey), six concrete projects have been envisaged: the Mediterranean Sea’s clean-up; “sea and inland highways”, (“the Mediterranean isn’t a sea that divides, but a sea which unites Peoples”); civil protection; the development of sustainable energies, with a special preference for solar energy; higher learning and research, including the project of a Euro-Mediterranean University in Slovenia; support to enterprise development. “Never so close to an agreement”. Operative aspects require further development. The launch of UfM raised evident enthusiasm but also undisclosed perplexities. All the leaders present in Paris expressed their approval of the project. However, a number of statesmen regard it as excessively ambitions and underlined the risk of political and diplomatic “protagonism”. While in Paris, those leaders we are accustomed to see as constantly engaged in military operations shook hands with one another expressing their wish for peace in the region. Ehud Olmert, premier of the Hebrew State, claimed that “Palestinians and Israelis never came so close to an agreement”. While Palestinian leader Abu Mazen pointed out “the serious approach in the ongoing negotiations with Israel, and the respect of the road-map and international legality”.