The recent meeting between European Union and Mediterranean foreign ministers in Marseille in which a consensus was forged over the future direction of the Union for the Mediterranean is a good step forward for this regional grouping.
The Arab League was awarded observer status within this bloc, Barcelona was assigned the Union's secretariat, the post of deputy secretary general is to be given to a Maltese national and a liaison office for Euro-Arab dialogue sponsored by the Arab League and the European Commission will be based in Malta.
Malta has always placed the Euro-Med at the heart of its foreign policy and it enthusiastically backed the idea of the Union for the Mediterranean when it was launched by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Although it lobbied for the Union's secretariat to be based in Malta, the fact that a Maltese national is to be given a senior post and that a centre for dialogue with the Arab world is to be located here is an acknowledgement of the Maltese government's strong Euro-Med credentials.
The granting of observer status to the Arab League - which was strongly backed by Malta - and the setting up of a liaison office for Euro-Arab dialogue should go some way in boosting the channel of communication between the EU and the Arab world, which is certainly welcome.
It should be remembered that former Foreign Minister Michael Frendo had proposed the idea of a structured dialogue between these two blocs and an Arab League-EU ministerial meeting was held in Malta last February. The decisions taken at Marseille regarding EU-Arab dialogue are in essence a consolidation of the Malta meeting.
Libya's decision not to join the Union is indeed regrettable and we hope Tripoli will reconsider its position. One of the goals of the Mediterranean Union is the promotion of orderly managed legal migration and the combating of illegal migration. Considering that most of the illegal immigrants ending up in Malta come through Libya, it is in our direct interest for an agreement to be reached between Tripoli and Brussels over illegal immigration.
"Club Med", as it is often referred to, is more or less an extension of the Euro-Med Barcelona Process launched in 1995 and which produced disappointing results as it was held hostage to the Arab-Israeli dispute and the global war on terrorism. It is important that this does not happen with the Mediterranean Union. Hopefully, the new US administration which takes office in January will adopt a more balanced approach to the Arab-Israeli dispute and the Palestinian dream of statehood will become a reality. This will lead to less tension in the Mediterranean and will augur well for the success of this regional grouping.
Of course, the success of the Mediterranean Union will to a large extent depend of the political will of its leaders and we hope that old prejudices are put aside for the benefit of all the people of the Mediterranean. Among the Union's main goals are the building of a common future based on the full respect of democratic principles and human rights, the eradication of terrorism, the creation of a free trade area in the Euro-Med region by 2010 and beyond and the promotion of all-round regional economic integration.
Six major projects were highlighted at the Union's launch last summer, in the fields of education, alternative energy, cleaning up the Med, road and sea links, civil protection and help for SMEs. These will no doubt contribute to economic interdependence and in turn will help achieve peace and stability in the Med.