Reshaping the agenda? The internal politics of the Barcelona Process in the aftermath of September 11

Article is part of a special issue on Euro-Mediterranean relations after September 11.

Article abstract:

The third basket of the Barcelona Declaration - which outlines plans to build a partnership in social and cultural and human affairs - is at last receiving more attention from policy-makers. This is a result of three factors: an EU desire to address issues that have proved difficult to deal with in the context of the first (political/security) basket of the Barcelona Process; the growing importance of the EU's justice and home affairs agenda; and European responses to the worsening Middle East conflict and to September 11. The Spanish Presidency of the European Council (held during the first six months of 2002) obtained approval for policy innovations in the third basket, partly by adopting a much more consultative approach than EU counterparts had adopted previously within the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, thereby obtaining a degree of North-South consensus. However, the agenda for the third basket's development contains considerable potential for conflict as well as co-operation.
In particular, efforts to reinforce dialogue between civilisations and cultural co-operation risk being overshadowed by the current preoccupation of governments with security controls.