 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 April 1999 Issue No. 426 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
 |
 |
|
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 April 1999 Issue No. 426
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
|
|
|
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Special Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Cooperation stumbles
By Sameh Abdallah
at the political hurdleThe conference on European-Mediterranean partnership held recently in Stuttgart revealed that there is much to be done before the level of cooperation envisaged in the Barcelona Declaration is achieved. The failure to achieve such cooperation, furthermore, is due not to the parties' initial reluctance, but to a clearly defined political obstacle: the terms of reference of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Barcelona III, as it has been dubbed, took place last Thursday and Friday, attended by 27 foreign ministers from European and Mediterranean countries. The final statement merely reiterated the principles agreed upon at previous meetings, and affirmed the EU's Middle East policy positions. Pivotal issues, however, have not been settled; notably, the Covenant for Peace and Stability in the Middle East, once a top priority on the agenda, has been referred to experts for modifications and will be submitted at the coming meeting.
The Arab-Israeli conflict weighed heavily on the meeting. During the final session, a press conference scheduled for the Syrian and German foreign ministers had to be cancelled, and the chairman issued a statement to express reactions after Israeli Foreign Minister Sharon insisted on attending at the last minute, although his presence was not scheduled.
The Stuttgart meeting is the third in a series bringing together EU foreign ministers and their Mediterranean counterparts, held every two years to promote cooperation and help bring political and economic stability to the region. Besides EU representatives, all the Arab Mediterranean countries except Libya attend, as do the foreign ministers of Israel, Malta, Cyprus, Turkey, Jordan and the Palestinian National Authority. This time, the participants agreed that Libya will become a full partner as soon as the Security Council decides to lift the sanctions, which should occur in a matter of weeks.
The first meeting, held in Barcelona in 1995, resulted in the Barcelona Declaration, which set the framework for European-Mediterranean cooperation, focused on political and security issues, economic cooperation and human rights. The Middle East peace process was going fairly smoothly at the time, and Libya was excluded in order to avoid marring the proceedings.
The skies over Barcelona were not entirely clear, however. While participants set an economic goal -- the creation of a free trade zone by 2010 -- all discussion of the conflict in Cyprus and the tensions in the Aegean was deferred.
The second meeting, scheduled for April 1997, was to be held in Tunisia; due to Israeli intransigence, however, Syria refused to attend any meeting at which Israel would be present. At any rate, two days after it eventually convened, in Malta, the meeting was abruptly cut short. No agreement had been reached. The Arabs pushed for the inclusion of a paragraph condemning Israel's obstruction of peace efforts, a suggestion which Israel regarded as an outright attack.
Barcelona III confirmed once again the impact of the Arab-Israeli conflict on Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. The final statement called upon Israel to implement the agreements it had signed with the Arabs, to abide by the land-for-peace principle, and to implement Security Council Resolution 425. Germany's proposal for a covenant on peace and security was jettisoned when Syria refused to sign as long as Israel continues to occupy the Golan. Clearly, plans for security cooperation are not feasible as long as a military conflict between Euro-Med partners prevails. The final statement was explicit in asserting that ratification will only take place when the political environment permits it.
In terms of economic cooperation, talks were limited by the fact that the EU is seeking to reduce its assistance programme to countries south of the Mediterranean by 35 per cent. The reduction, however, is to be implemented indirectly, by spreading assistance more thinly over a longer time span. The final statement therefore asserted that the EU would provide 4.6 billion euros, in addition to another 4.8 billion in loans from the European Investment Bank, for a period of seven years, starting in 2000. These amounts had been approved under the previous assistance programme, which ends this year.
Many observers feel that current developments must be seen merely as attempts to keep the Barcelona principles of cooperation alive until they can be put into effect. In this perspective, the fact that the meetings are held at all is viewed as a success, as well as a useful stabilising factor.
Finally, several commentators have noted that the Barcelona framework is principally an element in much wider negotiations to establish a new global economic order. Some time is necessary for this system to settle, they point out; eventually, modifications will be introduced to guarantee its stability.
Experts expect Euro-Mediterranean cooperation efforts to continue, but they are also certain that all outstanding political issues between the member states must be settled before participants get down to the brass tacks. Before settlements are found for the Arab-Israeli conflict, the disputes between Turkey and Greece, and the problem of Cyprus, no major breakthrough can be expected, particularly at the level of political and security cooperation. Given that such cooperation may conflict in the future with US interests in the region, furthermore, US relations with the European Union and with the Middle East will certainly have an impact on the finalshape of Euro-Mediterranean relations.
