World leaders launch Union for the Mediterranean

15/07/2008

The Mediterranean union project proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy has become reality. At a summit meeting in Paris on Sunday, 43 leaders welcomed the creation of the new institution, intended to foster stronger relations in the region.

By Jamel Arfaoui and Mona Yahia for Magharebia in Tunis – 15/07/08

[Getty Images] French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, co-chairs of the new Mediterranean Union, welcome Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to the founding summit in Paris.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy formally announced the birth of the Union for the Mediterranean at a summit meeting on Paris on Sunday evening (July 13th), before 43 leaders from European Union and southern Mediterranean countries, as well as Mauritania and Jordan.

"For our future to be a future of security, justice and progress, we have to work very hard and do like the Europeans when they decided among themselves to end an era of wars and violence. We shall succeed together or fail together," Sarkozy set at the opening of the summit.

The French President will co-chair the rotating presidency of the first two-year session, together with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The closing communiqué explains that the principle of co-chairmanship between a representative from the EU and a representative from the non-European Mediterranean countries "shall apply to summits and all ministerial meetings, as well as meetings of senior officials, the general secretariat, permanent joint committee and experts."

The parties also agreed to hold the summit of the new union every two years. These summits will be hosted alternately by a country from the EU and a non-EU Mediterranean country. Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of the new union will meet annually.

The summit did not produce a headquarters for the general secretariat – the decision will be made instead at the meeting of foreign ministers in November. Both Tunisia and Portugal have expressed willingness to host the headquarters.

The union aims to boost partnership in specific areas, such as the environment, scientific co-operation, civil protection, and immigration. In his speech before the summit, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali stressed the need for co-operation with Europe in order to "promote the abilities of the more fragile Mediterranean countries to deal with climate change."

In preparation for the Sunday summit, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos paid official visits to Tunisia, Mauritania, Algeria, Morocco and Libya. During a press conference on Thursday, Moratinos voiced his hope that Libya would participate, saying he would "try to convey to [Libyan leader] Muammar al-Kadhafi the spirit and the goals of this important Mediterranean project."

Kadhafi did not attend the summit. Among his many concerns over the initiative: that the Mediterranean union will lead to the domination of the North over the South and consequently contribute to a possible rise in religious extremism.

Also absent from the summit was King Mohammed VI of Morocco, who was represented instead by Prince Moulay Rachid. Though the absence was attributed to scheduling and not politics, President Sarkozy called for reconciliation between Algeria and Morocco, urging them to overcome their differences and "build peace... for the benefit of our common Mediterranean region".

Tunisian parliamentarian Adil al-Shawish called the Mediterranean Union a "positive and welcome step", adding that he hopes the countries learn from setbacks encountered in the Barcelona Process.

Al-Shawish called for balanced and fair decision-making in the organisation, saying such a union could even contribute to ending the Middle East conflict.

The Paris summit ignored the petitions of human rights organisations which called on the leaders to put freedom and human rights on the agenda. The International Human Rights Federation (FIDH) sent a message to the summit on July 11th in which it accused the sponsors of the union of paying attention only to economic issues and "ignoring the aspirations of the region's peoples for freedom".