Adapting to French ‘Leadership’? Spain’s Role in the Union for the Mediterranean

One might have expected Spain to have been less than enthusiastic about President Sarkozy's Mediterranean initiative of 2007-08, given that it implied criticism of the Barcelona Process in which Spain had been so prominent. Yet Franco-Spanish rivalry has not come to the fore as a result of it. Acceptance, adaptation and eventual support have been the keynotes to the Spanish response, notwithstanding some ongoing differences in outlook between the two countries. A political accommodation has been reached, with France guaranteeing Spain a visible, though not substantial, role in the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).

This builds upon earlier Franco-Spanish collaboration in the context of EU Mediterranean Policy, as well as close bilateral co-operation in various other policy domains, including migration and counter-terrorism. Collaboration with France also finds explanation in the wider EU context where it is now more difficult for any single country (even France) to achieve strategic policy changes. Besides analysing Spanish reactions to the assertion of French 'leadership' in the Mediterranean, this contribution considers Spain's potential to exert influence on the UfM in the future by looking at its EU Presidency during the first half of 2010.