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Sarkozy's bid for new partners
Since the Barcelona Declaration was made more than a decade ago, Europe has seen its weight in the Middle East and North Africa recede.
- By Osama Al Sharif
- Published: 23:31 July 14, 2007
- Image Credit: Illustration: Ramachandra Babu/Gulf News
Almost 12 years have passed since the Euro-Med partnership project was launched in November 1995 to create a framework of political, social and economic cooperation between the European Union and countries of the southern Mediterranean. The Barcelona Declaration was an ambitious initiative undertaken by Europe to overlap with the positive prospects of a thriving Middle East peace process, the absorption of new members from Eastern Europe into the EU and a general optimistic mood that was prevailing across the globe more than five years after the end of the Cold War.
But that seems like ages ago. The Barcelona process has failed to meet its main objectives and the equal partnership that many on both banks of the Mediterranean Sea dreamed of building became a Utopian dream. The reality today is the direct opposite of what the foreign ministers meeting in Spain 12 years ago had envisioned. The failure of the peace process and America's hijacking of the Middle East have fumbled the Barcelona initiative. Europe and our region have lost a lot since then.
The US approach to Middle Eastern partnership differed from that of Europe. Its intention was the incorporation of Israel into the Greater Middle East even before a final peace settlement with the Arab world was reached. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) summits sought to bypass the political sticking points and focus entirely on economic integration. That process too finally fell through.
New initiative
But now French President Nicolas Sarkozy is unveiling a new initiative, one that looks to inspire prospective partners on both sides. In his first trip outside Europe Sarkozy flew to Algeria and Tunisia where he outlined his plan for a new Mediterranean Union that will bring together, from the onset, five western Mediterranean countries (France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece) and the five Maghreb states, governed by a permanent council similar to the Council of Europe.
Sarkozy's project has been in the works for some time, triggered by a wide variety of challenges including controlling the flow of illegal migrants from North Africa into Europe, the need to tap on the Maghreb's ample supplies of oil and gas to keep the European economy going, fighting terrorism and cooperating in security issues and driving investments into the southern Mediterranean growing markets.
For the Arab members the incentives would include collective security, normalised relations with Europe, transfer of nuclear energy technology for civil use (France is a world leader in this area), and much needed European investments in various economic sectors.
In his efforts to reform France and the European Union, Sarkozy is now looking at the south Mediterranean region as a vital sphere of both influence and cooperation. And by limiting that union to ten members (5+5) he is trying to maximise the chances for success taking the Barcelona experience in hindsight.
But scepticism is already shrouding Srakozy's pet project. For starters Brussels sees the move as a challenge to its own Euro-Med project which had cots more than 20 billion euros so far. And Sarkozy needs to convince some of his European partners such as Spain and Italy of the feasibility of his proposal. Turkey, for example, has viewed the French move as a conspiracy to kill its bid to join the European Union.
But the biggest misgiving may come from the United States, which views the southern Mediterranean basin as its own backyard. It would not be happy to see some of its closest Arab allies building special ties with Europe which could weaken its grip on such a strategic area.
Emotional issues
Moreover, France and its European partners will have to overcome some of the emotional issues, which for years impeded full normalisation with the Maghreb states. Most have long and bloody colonial history in that region and in his recent visit to Algeria Sarkozy refused to apologise for France's 132 years of occupation which had cost the lives of more than a million Algerians.
And above all the Europeans will have to deal with tense bilateral relations between their own Arab partners. Sarkozy had to cancel the Moroccan leg of his trip allegedly because Rabat was dismayed that the French president started his tour of the Maghreb with Algeria, which it accuses of backing the Polisario Front's quest for an independent Western Sahara. Issues such the future of the Western Sahara will reflect on the integrity of the proposed union. In fact, the Arab Maghreb Union, formed in 1989, has failed to take off precisely because of this problem.
That leaves other issues such the proposed union's stand on human rights, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the plight of the Palestinian people. Sarkozy is viewed as an ardent supporter of Israel although it would be unfair to characterise him as anti-Palestinian.
The French president's proposal is one that deserves the benefit of the doubt. Since the Barcelona Declaration was made more than a decade ago, Europe has seen its weight in the Middle East and North Africa recede. The failure of that momentous process should become a catalyst for a new attempt to build bridges between Europe and our region, least of all because the security and stability of the Mediterranean basin affects us all.
Osama Al Sharif is a Jordanian journalist based in Amman.
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