Euro-Mediterranean
Partnership/Barcelona Process
The Euro-Mediterranean Conference of
Ministers of Foreign Affairs, held in Barcelona on 27-28
November 1995, marked the starting point of the
Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Barcelona Process), a
wide framework of political, economic and social
relations between the Member States of the European
Union and Partners of the Southern Mediterranean.
The latest EU enlargement, on 1st May
2004, has brought two Mediterranean Partners (Cyprus and
Malta) into the European Union, while adding a total of
10 to the number of Member States. The
Euro-Mediterranean Partnership thus comprises 35
members, 25 EU Member States and 10 Mediterranean
Partners (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon,
Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and
Turkey). Libya has observer status since
1999.
The Barcelona Process is a unique and
ambitious initiative, which laid the foundations of a
new regional relationship and which represents a turning
point in Euro-Mediterranean relations. In the Barcelona
Declaration, the Euro-Mediterranean partners
established the three main objectives of the
Partnership:
1. The definition of a common area of
peace and stability through the reinforcement of
political and security dialogue (Political and Security
Chapter).
2. The construction of a zone of shared
prosperity through an economic and financial partnership
and the gradual establishment of a free-trade
area (Economic and Financial
Chapter).
3. The rapprochement between peoples
through a social, cultural and human partnership aimed
at encouraging understanding between cultures and
exchanges between civil societies (Social, Cultural and
Human Chapter).
The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership
comprises two complementary dimensions:
The European
Union carries out a number of activities bilaterally
with each country. The most important are the
Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements that the
Union negotiates with the Mediterranean Partners
individually. They reflect the general principles
governing the new Euro-Mediterranean relationship,
although they each contain characteristics specific to
the relations between the EU and each Mediterranean
Partner.
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Regional dimension. Regional
dialogue represents one of the most innovative aspects
of the Partnership, covering at the same time the
political, economic and cultural fields (regional
co-operation). Regional co-operation has a
considerable strategic impact as it deals with
problems that are common to many Mediterranean
Partners while it emphasises the national
complementarities.
The multilateral dimension supports and
complements the bilateral actions and dialogue taking
place under the Association Agreements.
The existing MEDA
programme is the main financial instrument for
the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. From 1995 to 2003,
MEDA committed € 5,458 million in co-operation
programmes, projects and other supporting activities,
the regional activities comprising around 15% of this
budget. The other important source of funding is the European Investment
Bank that has lent € 14 billion for developing
activities in the Euro-Mediterranean Partners since 1974
(€ 3.7 billion in 2002-2003).
Since 2004 the Mediterranean Partners are also
included in the European
Neighbourhood Policy
(ENP). |