Tunisia likely to outdo Malta in hosting secretariat

The secretariat of the new Mediterranean Union - to be formally launched next July by the EU in Paris - is expected to be hosted by Tunisia despite strong lobbying by Malta.

European Commission sources said yesterday that, although a final decision is expected to be taken next month by the EU heads of state and government during their summit in Brussels, it is very likely that the final choice will be Tunisia.

"Malta has been lobbying hard to host the secretariat of the new Mediterranean Union since the idea was launched by French President Nicolas Sarkozy last year," the sources said.

"Although Malta would have been an ideal location, it seems the majority of member states tend to prefer the organisation's secretariat to be hosted in a non-EU member state as a sign of goodwill."

The sources said Malta is continuing with its efforts to try to persuade member states but it seems that "an informal decision on Tunisia has already been taken".

The Times is informed that the issue was also raised directly by the Maltese government during the French Prime Minister's visit to Malta last week. When contacted, government sources confirmed that the Mediterranean Union was one of the main items on the agenda but refused to comment further on Malta's bid to host the Union's secretariat.

The Mediterranean Union will comprise states from the Mediterranean basin and will be officially launched during a special summit to coincide with the start of the French presidency of the EU.

The European Commission has already finalised the groundwork on how this Union should work.

According to an internal discussion held by EU commissioners this week, the Union will be working on a series of issues that affect both the EU and the southern Mediterranean countries including immigration, security and environment issues.

According to a draft plan, the main decisions will start being taken at twice yearly summit meetings at head of state and government level under a co-presidency chaired by the EU foreign policy chief, the President of the Commission and of the European Council on behalf of the EU and a co-chairman chosen by the non-EU participants.

It is still unclear whether the secretariat should have limited powers, in charge only of following up on decisions made by the summit leaders or whether it will be responsible for the every day governance of the Union for the Mediterranean.