PM to attend Med. Union launch in Paris

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will tomorrow be in Paris to attend the launch of the Union for the Mediterranean, a new structured relationship between the EU and its Mediterranean partners.

The Union, the brainchild of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, will be inaugurated during a summit meeting to be attended by leaders of the 27 member states of the European Union, the 12 Mediterranean countries that are members of the Barcelona Process and another four countries bordering the Mediterranean, together with the heads of the largest international and regional organisations.

The only Mediterranean leader boycotting the event is Libya's Muammar Gaddafi who yesterday reiterated his criticism of the project.

During a press conference in Tripoli, Col. Gaddafi predicted the project would be a complete failure and an insult to the Arab world. He accused the EU of trying to divide Africa and the broader Arab world by drawing a Mediterranean Union map that echoes old colonialist designs for the region. He referred particularly to the inclusion of Israel, whose Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, will also attend the summit.

Apart from officially launching the Union, tomorrow's meeting is expected to adopt positions with regard to shared ownership, joint governance and on projects that will bring tangible improvements to people's lives and livelihoods in the EU and the Med.

The upgraded political relationship foresees biennial summits of heads of government and the establishment of a co-presidency to manage the summits as well as annual Foreign Ministers' meetings, sectoral ministerial meetings and senior officials' meetings.

A joint secretariat will be established to manage projects and the creation of a permanent committee of Euro-Mediterranean representatives will provide support to the new institutional and administrative structures.

Malta has already put its name forward to host the Med Union's secretariat. Tunisia and Morocco are also in the running.

The Maltese delegation, which will include Foreign Minister Tonio Borg, has also been invited by President Sarkozy to attend the Bastille Day celebrations on Monday at Champs Elysée.