Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 23 - 29 November 2000 Issue No.509
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Barcelona process survives hijacking

By Dina Ezzat

Economics did not become hostage to politics-this time photo: Fouad Mansour

This week a foreign ministers' meeting for the member states of the Barcelona process for Euro-Mediterranean cooperation was all but hijacked by the Middle East crisis. For two days in the French coastal city of Marseilles, most of the foreign ministers present were talking about how the peace process could be saved and how they might keep to a minimum its negative impact on the Barcelona Process, which aims to establish political and economic cooperation amongst Mediterranean basin countries.

"Since the start of this process in 1995 this meeting has perhaps been the most tense," commented one source in Marseilles. "Even during the supposedly most difficult days of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, the situation was not as tense as this," he added.

Indeed, the situation was tense enough for both Syria and Lebanon to decide to boycott the Marseilles gathering altogether. "The Europeans had promised that they would have a clear stance on what is going on in the Palestinian territories; but come the meeting in France, this was not the case," one diplomatic source commented. He added: "This was very frustrating for the Arab side. The French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine had a very difficult time trying to deal with the concerns of his Arab counterparts."

Vedrine's efforts did not seem to have been very successful. Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa publicly criticised the stance of the Europeans on the Middle East crisis. European diplomats were holding both the Palestinians and Israelis responsible for the current crisis in the Palestinian territories, and thus equated the aggressor and the victims, Moussa said.

"Nobody in Marseilles wanted to see Barcelona process being totally hijacked by the misfortune that has befallen the peace process; it is bad enough that the peace process is put on hold. After all, the Barcelona process is not about the Arabs and Israel, but rather the northern and southern Mediterranean regions," said an Egyptian diplomatic source.

EU officials wanted to discuss the economy. On the agenda were two items: the EU-southern Mediterranean partnership agreements and MEDA, a EU economic aid programme to the countries south of the Mediterranean.

EU officials spoke of the need for the full implementation of the finalised agreement with Jordan. They also spoke of the need to see Algeria, Lebanon and Syria speed up the negotiation process for their own agreements. Most of all, EU officials spoke of their expectations that Egypt would be eager to sign its own agreement settled some 18 months ago. Officials from the French side, which is currently chairing the EU, told the Egyptian delegation that they had hoped to see this agreement signed in the first letters before the end of the year, when France ends its EU presidency term. Still, not even a tentative agreement for this anticipated signing has been reached.

Meanwhile, the EU promised 5.35 billion euros for the second phase of the MEDA programme.

"The budget for MEDA II is slightly larger than the budget that the EU allocated for MEDA I. However, given that MEDA II is supposed to cover more years, and taking into consideration inflation, it ends up being about the same value -- 4.7 billion euros -- that were originally allocated," one source told Al-Ahram Weekly.

The MEDA funds are not directly channeled into the coffers of the recipient governments. Rather, they are spent by the EU on development projects in different areas being implemented by southern Mediterranean governments. The EU has to approve of the developmental value of the projects on which the money will be spent.

As a result, a good chunk of the MEDA I 4.7 billion euros was not disbursed. Egypt, for example, has only used 22.9 per cent of its 686 million euros share of MEDA I.

"This is not only our fault. It is not merely because we do not present the EU with sufficient developmental projects. It is also because of the huge bureaucracy that the EU applies on spending this money," commented an Egyptian official. The need to reduce this level of bureaucracy was discussed sufficiently in Marseilles and we heard promises from the Europeans that they will streamline and simplify the code of procedure," he added.

Egypt is hoping to spend its share of MEDA II on modernising its industry and attracting foreign investment. The health and education sectors and the Social Development Fund, which have been the best users of the MEDA I, are also expected to continue to consume a good chunk of Egypt's share of MEDA II.

Meanwhile, Egypt presented the Marseilles meeting with a number of domestic projects that could be implemented in the framework of the Barcelona process, including the establishment of a forum on poverty alleviation and human resources development.

"We see the developmental process as one based primarily on human development, and we believe that the establishment of this forum would help formulate effective and efficient poverty alleviation strategies," commented one Egyptian source.

A mechanism to discuss trade problems between both sides of the Mediterranean basin was also suggested by Egypt.

"The EU and Eastern Europe have a similar mechanism operating and it has proved useful in discussing trade problems and issues related to market access," explained one government official.

The establishment of technical support to facilitate an Arab Mediterranean Free trade area was also on the table. According to an Egyptian Foreign Ministry advisor, "the basic aim of this project is to strengthen cooperation between Arab members of the Barcelona process and to establish a free trade area among them."

"So Egypt believes that it was important for Arab countries of the Barcelona process to be there in Marseilles and to voice the Arab point of view about the current Middle East crisis before the EU and in the presence of Israel's foreign minister -- all on top of the need for better economic cooperation between the Arab countries and the EU," another Egyptian diplomat commented.

The long-term objective of the Barcelona process is to reduce, if not erase, tension in the area and start a Mediterranean free-trade area by 2010. Cooperation under the Barcelona process is political, economic and cultural.

During the past few days, Syria and Lebanon had been suggesting that Arab countries should not attend the Marseilles meetings, in keeping with the spirit of a recent Arab summit that called for a halt to Arab-Israeli cooperation.

Said a senior Egyptian diplomat: "We do have a serious interest in the economic aspect of the Barcelona process which should not become another peace process, irrespective of the fact of Israel's presence. The Barcelona process and the peace process are separate."

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