Championing the Mediterranean

Ever since French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced his initiative for a Union for the Mediterranean, assessments have been published on the merits and shortcomings of this policy framework which is due to be officially launched next month in Paris.

Since the end of the Cold War there have been several attempts to promote regional co-operation in the Mediterranean.

The reality is that the Union for the Mediterranean framework is providing an opportunity for all those interested in promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Mediterranean to adopt a collective approach and start addressing the multitude of security challenges facing all Mediterranean states.

The Union for the Mediterranean offers Europe and the International community an opportunity to carry out a strategic assessment that will allow for more political attention and economic resources to be directed towards upgrading stability and opportunities across the Mediterranean.

A large number of projects that would strengthen Euro-Mediterranean relations are being informally discussed within the Union for the Mediterranean perspective. These include completion of the trans-Med power grid, development of nuclear and renewable energy, the setting up of a Mediterranean Development Bank that would focus on financially supporting small and medium sized enterprises, the introduction of visa facilities for specific categories of citizen such as research personnel, business people and officials, and the strengthening of University cooperation including student and staff exchange partnerships.

The Union for the Mediterranean could therefore provide the long desired boost to the Barcelona Process as the new label of the endeavour is adopting - Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean. It will seek to deliver what the recent five-year work plan adopted at the 10th anniversary summit in Barcelona in 2005 did not succeed in achieving - namely that of implementing more aggressively the policy action plans that have been agreed to in the political, economic and cultural sectors.

The Union for the Mediterranean initiative will put the Mediterranean in the limelight after being overshadowed by other regions of the world where regional cooperation and integration have taken leaps forward. The Union for the Mediterranean framework can also create the necessary strategic climate within which other Unions may be able to prosper - these include the Arab Maghreb Union, the 5+5, the Mediterranean Forum, the EMP, the ENP and the Middle East peace process. Regardless of the ultimate format that the Union for the Mediterranean takes, one factor is already crystal clear - there is a need for closer co-operation across the Mediterranean.

Issues such as illegal immigration, protecting the Mediterranean Sea from pollution, water and solar energy research and development, and the proposal for joint civil protection operations need a forum for them to be planned, adopted and monitored during implementation.

Malta is very well placed to play a leading role in the evolution of the Union for the Mediterranean. A brief review of Malta's foreign policy credentials highlight that the island has consistently been promoting a co-operative Euro-Mediterranean perspective: Malta's success in highlighting the indivisibility of security in Europe and security in the Mediterranean in the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, Malta's proposal to create a Council of the Mediterranean in 1992, very much a harbinger of the current Sarkozy proposal, and more recently the setting up and dynamic functioning of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM).

Sceptics who seek to steal the show in the run up to the Paris Union for the Mediterranean must not distract from what the main focus should be: namely what agenda will the 44 participating states agree to start implementing, what will the Union for the Mediterranean work programme consist of and what amount of political will the EU and the Mediterranean partner countries be prepared to invest in the Union for the Mediterranean?

During the forthcoming decade international attention must focus on ensuring that Europe's southern dimension becomes a region of growth. This must include the transfer of skills from the more developed countries of Europe to allow the southern Mediterranean states to implement successful economic policies. Creating a more dynamic economic zone of growth will help to start reducing animosity and tension and prevent the alternative scenario of instability in the Mediterranean from increasing.

The proposal to establish a Union for the Mediterranean must be welcomed and supported as it has the potential to help focus international attention on a very important geo-strategic crossroads of different civilisations. While the Union for the Mediterranean will start to an unknown destination, it is very important that this Euro-Mediterranean undertaking is mapped out in such a manner that it actually takes into consideration input from all members.