Five years building the Euro-Mediterranean house

An architect working to restore the Medina of Tunis, a Moroccan farmer developing new ways to make best use of his land, an academic from Jordan attending a seminar in Europe, an Algerian NGO promoting civil rights, an Egyptian official learning how to enter the EU internal market – all these people are living proof of the co operation that now exists between Europe and the Mediterranean, and the wide scope of our work together.

As I end my term as European Commissioner, I am satisfied that the Barcelona Process has come a long way over the past five years, but there is still much to be done.

The Mediterranean is for Europe much more than a geopolitical concept, it is the origin of three basic components of our culture: the mono-theistic religions, the Greek philosophy with its anthropocentric ideas of human freedom, and the Roman law. Our Arab and Jewish neighbours made a significant contribution to the expansion of these ideas in Western Europe. In the most obscure decades of the Middle Ages Avicenna, Averroës or Maimonides enriched and transmitted Greek philosophy to Western
Europe, and their work on algebra and medicine deeply influenced Europe’s development and identity.

It is important not to lose sight of this historical perspective in the face of recent events: the stalled Middle East Peace Process; the war in Iraq; and the terrible terrorist attacks that since September 2001 in New York, Istanbul, Casablanca or Madrid, have seen terrorists try to drive a wedge of fear and mistrust between Europe and the Arab world. They must not succeed. We are not willing to contemplate a future where new dividing lines are created by the hatred of a minority of extremists. The determination of our governments and, more importantly, of our civil societies on both sides of the Mediterranean, must prevent it. These years have shown how crucial is our co operation across the Mediterranean sea, how essential our engagement with our southern neighbours.

While newspapers have speculated about a clash between our civilisations, the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership has made quiet, but concrete progress, with realistic steps towards the Euro-Mediterranean house envisaged by the original Barcelona Declaration. Take free trade. All countries of the region but one have agreed on a schedule of tariff reductions that will result in the setting up of a free trade area with the EU, and an agreement with Syria completed but not yet signed. Alongside this progress on north-south trade, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan have signed in 2004 a free trade agreement among themselves, an important step to free up south south commerce. A great free trade area from Rabat to Ankara and from Helsinki to Amman is gradually taking shape.

But our policies are not just about trade. The partnership developed through the Barcelona Process, and more recently and deeply, by the European Neighbourhood policy, is about reform, encouraging gradual change and stable transition in countries willing to engage with the European Union. With this partnership comes aid: since 2000 the European Commission has deployed more than three billion euros in the region, and we are ever more efficient at getting the money where it is needed. Over the past five years we have offered co operation to help partners in the Mediterranean weather the challenges of globalisation, modernise their legislation, adapt their social protection systems, improve their transport and their telecommunications, reform their judiciary or promote and preserve their cultural heritage. The new Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures will be a further demonstration of our determination to promote the principles of tolerance and mutual understanding.

All this has been possible because across the Mediterranean our partners feel the same need to build bridges with us. There is a new sense of urgency to deal with the challenges of the region from demographics to education; from unemployment to environment. A clear sign that reform is not a taboo issue for the Arab world are the declarations issued by civil society organisations in Alexandria and Sana’a, and more significantly, by Arab governments in the Tunis Summit of the Arab league in May this year. Some measures still prove hard to take, including increased democracy and participation of the people in government. The process of democratic reforms in Mediterranean countries has been too slow and too modest, but reforms have to be driven by the people of the Mediterranean countries, and it is not for Europe to decide the pace and the sequence of change.

Democracy is not a luxury commodity for rich countries, it is the basic raw material with which developed and developing countries alike shape their future, tackle the demands of their societies, and avoid conflict by respecting the rights of minorities.
Democracy is one of the principles of European integration, and one which we hope will bring prosperity and peace to the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Of course, to secure peace we need concrete measures too. We want our children to inherit a Mediterranean free of weapons of mass destruction and we are involved in a process of intense dialogue with our partners in the region, with the aim of building a region where all the countries fully respect their international obligations in this regard.

These are some of the building blocks of the Euro-Mediterranean house under construction: Peace, prosperity and democracy. I am sure that in the skilful hands of my successor, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the Commission will continue to do its building work with patience and determination.

Chris Patten
European Commissioner for External Relations