Euro-Med tries to ride out the region’s storms

Date: 14/11/1996

By Elizabeth Wise

A YEAR has passed since a dozen Middle Eastern and North African nations sat down with the EU and agreed to work towards reunifying a region which has been plagued by war for centuries.

The Euro-Mediterranean initiative was designed to create links between the many sets of enemies along the Mediterranean's banks: Greece and Turkey; Algeria and Morocco; and, most notably, Israel and its Arab neighbours.

Far away from the spotlight of the US-sponsored Middle East peace process, Euro-Med working groups have been meeting regularly since then to discuss topics ranging from the environment to investment, from tourism to terrorism.

Watching the recent unsuccessful efforts of US diplomacy to resolve differences between Israel and the Palestinians, Lebanese and Syrians, the Euro-Med programme's EU sponsors say that their approach - given time - can work in a way that one-dimensional political efforts cannot.

Civil servants from the 27 countries meet in working groups to discuss a range of topics, and contacts between them are becoming increasingly frequent.

In the next two weeks alone, there will be talks on security, energy, local water administration, economic and social issues, and disarmament. December will see meetings on banking, industry, science and technology.

When the group's political and security committee was formed, many feared that as long as Euro-Med stuck to its promise not to compete with the peace process, it would be a hollow forum where members avoided sensitive topics.

But representatives have found ways to debate projects which involve their countries' armed forces, without treading on the US-sponsored process.

One such project is a disaster-prevention network. Creating regional early-warning centres linking national ministries and institutions seems an innocent enough idea. But European partners also hope to persuade Mediterranean governments to agree to allow their troops to be used to fight natural disasters or help ease man-made calamities.

EU nations are discussing a similar approach to deploying military forces for the so-called Petersberg tasks of humanitarian relief and other civilian uses. They say that if Middle Eastern nations put some troops and military bases to common use, it would be a huge step forward.

“If it goes well it can be the start of real change,” says Ambassador Antonio Badini, Italy's representative on the political and security committee, adding: “In five to seven years, if there is a crisis in the Middle East, we want to be the first option. The Euro-Med mechanism should be the first to intervene, not American aeroplanes.”

The committee's members are racing against the clock to prepare agreements on arms control, terrorism, organised crime, crisis-prevention and preventive diplomacy by next April, when Union and Mediterranean foreign ministers are due to meet for the first time since the Barcelona conference last November ushered in the Euro-Med initiative.

Some projects are nearing completion, such as the creation of networks of defence studies institutes and foreign policy think-tanks in various countries.

In their drive to create peace in the Middle East, Euro-Med sponsors have three rivals: the US-sponsored peace process, NATO's Mediterranean programmes and the regional development meetings hosted by the World Economic Forum in Casablanca, Amman and Cairo.

“There is a healthy rivalry,” says Badini. But he maintains that Euro-Med is trying an approach which the other groups have not attempted: to bridge the cultural gaps at the root of political and economic problems.

“It is a state of mind we are trying to change. We are finding what is common and what is specific to individual nations,” he explains. “We are attempting a cultural revolution. We are overcoming this diffidence which has prevented dialogue for years.”

Partly due to Syrian and Egyptian desires for privacy, Euro-Med meetings take place behind closed doors. Their confidentiality allows more discussion than some would be willing to have in public.

While many participants still refuse to speak directly to each other, they exchange words through the chair. Badini says the disputes are becoming more heated and fewer subjects are being avoided entirely. But the Union has set ground rules for meetings and partners are not allowed to claim exemptions. “Even their special cases can be dealt with by common rules.”

EU sponsors are, however, painfully aware that the future of the so-called 'Barcelona process' depends as much on what happens in the Middle East as on what happens around the table in Brussels and at other Euro-Med meeting venues.

“The fact that the peace process is going through a difficult period has repercussions on our job,” says Badini.

EU officials take heart from the fact that despite the Israeli bombings in Lebanon this spring, the recent controversial opening of the tunnel in Jerusalem and fruitless peace talks, Euro-Med representatives are still coming to the table.

But Badini says he is not sure how long the Euro-Med partners can keep it up. “If there is no progress in the Middle East, Barcelona cannot continue to develop,” he explains. “We talk about stability and restoring confidence, yet we cannot ignore what is happening.”

“We do not want to be taken hostage by the peace process,” he adds, admitting that partners are redoubling their efforts to keep Barcelona on track. “We are still fighting, but we are worried.”