Strengthening EU-Arab co-operation

The meeting between European Union and Arab League ministers held in Malta last week was a historic first and was certainly a useful platform for dialogue between the two sides. This welcome Maltese initiative, first brought up by Foreign Minister Michael Frendo at an EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Finland in September 2006, aims at enhancing co-operation between Europe and the Arab world in a number of key areas, such as energy, security, climate change, inter-cultural dialogue and development.

At the end of the conference a commitment was made for the setting up of a follow-up task force consisting of officials from both blocs to explore areas of co-operation in detail. It is this follow-up, of course, which will determine the success of Malta's initiative. Since it first came up with its proposal, Malta has been pushing for a structured dialogue between the two sides backed by some sort of permanent set-up, just like the Euro-Med process has a permanent structure. Whether this task force will turn into the permanent set-up Malta had in mind is still to be seen.

The Arab League and the EU together represent one quarter of the UN member states and the two sides are key players in the international scene. Many of the Arab League states are the EU's neighbours, so greater co-operation is certainly something positive. However, success or failure of this new platform will depend to a great extent on the political will of the individual countries concerned.

The level of participation at the Malta conference sent out mixed signals. The presence of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero Waldner and Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa was a good sign.

On the EU side, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain sent foreign ministers, which is encouraging. The rest, including important countries such as Germany, Britain, Poland and France sent either junior ministers, ambassadors or foreign ministry officials.

One senior European diplomat told me that some EU countries did not send their foreign minister because of pressure from Israel, which obviously is not particularly keen on this newly-set up EU-Arab League. France, on the other hand, probably did not want to divert attention away from President Nicolas Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union proposal.

However, on the Arab League side, Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and Yemen sent foreign ministers or other ministers, while the rest, including states like Egypt and Syria, sent either ambassadors, junior ministers or foreign ministry officials. So it is clear that some Arab League countries are also in need of some convincing over this initiative. On the other hand, the fact that all the EU and Arab League countries participated in this conference is a good start.

Up until now no structure for dialogue between the EU and the Arab League has existed. Both the Euro-Med process and the EU's Neighbourhood Policy include the Arab states of North Africa (except Mauritania), as well as Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian Authority. However, this new Arab League-EU set-up also includes all the Gulf States, Iraq, Sudan, Djibouti and Mauritania, and is expected to complement the other two processes.

It is widely accepted that the Euro-Med process, initiated in 1995, has on the whole been a disappointment and has now been sidelined by both the EU and its southern Mediterranean partners. One of the reasons for the poor performance of this process is that it has been hijacked by the Middle East situation with the Arab countries unable to co-operate fully in a forum that includes Israel.

While one hopes that an eventual settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute will help revive the Euro-Med process, this latest EU-Arab League forum, which does not include Israel, should nonetheless be given a chance to develop and hopefully produce positive results.

At a time when relations between the West and Islam are going through a challenging period, the proposed Arab League-EU set-up could be the perfect venue for an easing of tensions between the two blocs through a structured dialogue.

It could also contribute to enhancing trade, educational exchanges and economic co-operation between Europe and the Arab states, which is certainly in the interest of both sides, and one hopes, the promotion of democracy in the Arab world.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal Bon Abdulaziz, who together with Slovenian Foreign Minister Rupel Dimitru and Maltese Foreign Minister Michael Frendo chaired the Malta conference, remarked at the end of the meeting that the summit had proved to be a very valid platform to improve co-operation between Europe and the Arabs.

"We came here with very low expectations but are leaving with a very optimistic outlook about future co-operation," he said. One hopes that all the EU and Arab states share the Saudi prince's optimism and commitment.