Partnership In Question

An hour before the final press conference of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Summit, held in Barcelona and marking the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona process, there was a distinct possibility that the summit would end without agreement over a single document, a senior diplomat told Al-Ahram Weekly. Which hardly bodes well for a 10-year process intended to promote closer cooperation and cultural understanding between the European Union's 25 member states and 10 Southern Mediterranean countries -- Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.

The speech delivered on behalf of President Hosni Mubarak by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif -- ongoing domestic parliamentary elections prevented Mubarak from attending -- emphasised the importance of intensifying the Euro-Mediterranean partnership "based on co- ownership, mutual interests, and respect for each partner's differences".

Following major disagreements between Arab countries and their European partners on the definition of terrorism, there were also sharp differences over the persistent Arab demands for acknowledging the Palestinians "legitimate right" to resist Israeli occupation. Israel also strongly objects to the mention of earlier peace- process agreements in any of the summit's documents.

A two-page code of conduct on fighting terrorism was eventually released, an accord addressing illegal immigration, and a five-year joint work programme. The summit didn't produce a final declaration. Instead, a concluding statement was issued by Britain and Spain, in their capacity as joint chairs of the event.

Except for Palestine and Turkey, none of the EU's southern partners sent heads of states to the summit's preparatory meetings, a no-show was explained by the Spanish daily El Pais as a reaction to Europe's marginalisation of development issues and its emphasis on security.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana downplayed the absence of Arab leaders, saying "the important thing is not the spokesman, but what the spokesman says, and what the countries will say".

Throughout the meeting Europe appeared to be seeking to make aid to its partners conditional on domestic reform, a position that angered many Arabs. The Arabs feel that Barcelona is no longer a true partnership, and that the Europeans dictate terms.

"We find it humiliating that the Europeans demand reform in exchange for a few euros," Algerian Foreign Minister Abdul-Aziz Belkhadem told reporters following one of the preparatory meetings.

Another major source of contention, one senior official told the Weekly, was the unanimous Arab rejection of the EU suggestion that the concluding statement include an emphasis on the importance of "ensuring the independence of the judiciary" in southern Mediterranean states.

"Current international tensions have prevented the Euro-Mediterranean partnership from realising all its potentials," and from helping both partners reach mutual agreements on a host of issues, Antonio Badini, Italy's ambassador to Egypt told the Weekly

Assistant Foreign Minister Mohamed Shaaban concurred: "Following the [11 September, 2001] attacks, the US has changed and the world has been trying to adapt to that change: the West has come to perceive the South as a major source of risks."

It would be unfair, though, says Gamal Bayoumi, one of the architects of Egypt's role in the Barcelona process, to write off the Euro- Mediterranean partnership process as a failure. The former ambassador argues that the partnership has made progress towards many of its original goals, particularly those included in the Barcelona Declaration's financial and economic chapter. It has provided economic support to Egypt, as well as other Southern-Mediterranean partners, across a wide range of areas including education, health and water sanitation. The fact that such support has yet to be translated into effective services, Bayoumi notes, may be due to the domestic circumstances of the Southern partners rather than the nature of the agreement. The goal of establishing a Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EUFTA) by 2010, he adds, will benefit both partners. It will constitute the world's largest free trade area, an essential tool in attaining the declaration's goal of common peace and prosperity.

Blaming the EU for not playing a larger role in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not entirely fair, says Bayoumi, who argues that the EU is a "giant economic entity but not as strong politically". Yet Egypt still managed to convince the EU to be an active partner in the Middle-East peace process, not least through the role it is playing at the Rafah crossing.

It is the provisions included in the cultural and social chapter, Bayoumi says, that currently need strenuous promotion. The EU "must realise it needs its Southern partners as much as they need the EU. Building common bridges and cultural dialogue are essential to promoting the kind of understanding that leads to more efficient cooperation."

Both Shaaban and Bayoumi believe that, rather than failing, the Euro-Mediterranean "may have moved at a slower pace than expected... both partners may disagree on issues but the process had succeeded in the last 10 years in attaining many goals. It is just taking more time than was initially thought."

There is a huge need, says one senior diplomat, for Arab states to work on promoting their own cooperation within the framework of the agreement given the EU's new neighborhood policy -- due to be implemented in 2007 -- that brackets together Europe's Southern and Eastern neighbours.

Europe has made no attempt to hide the increasingly conditional support it is willing to offer, providing neighbours with incentives in return for domestic political and economic reform. And when Europe's Southern neighbours are placed in the same basket as Eastern states, the amount of support the South receives is likely to fall.

The Barcelona process, says Shaaban, has witnessed successes and failures. That the Euro- Mediterranean partners are fated to continue their cooperation, though, remains a simple fact of geography.

"There is still a great deal that Euro- Mediterranean cooperation offers its partners, in supporting peace, mutual stability and prosperity. We must all work" to make that partnership a genuine success, Mubarak emphasised in his speech.