Union for the Mediterranean

Members of the Union pour la Méditerranée, as launched in July 2008.
Blue: European Union members
Green: African Union (in Africa) and other members
Striped green: Observer members

The Union for the Mediterranean (French: Union pour la Méditerranée; previously known as Mediterranean Union, French: Union méditerranéenne) is a community of non-EU countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, and all EU memberss established on 13 July 2008 by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He originally proposed the idea as an alternative to Turkish membership in the European Union, whereby Turkey would instead form the backbone of the new Mediterranean Union, but with the scaling down of plans in March 2008 that idea has been abandoned. Once Turkey was given a guarantee in March 2008 that the project would not be an alternative to Turkish EU membership, it accepted the invitation to participate.

History

Proposal

French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed the Union during his election campaign

The proposal was originally made as part of Sarkozy's election campaign. Following his victory the idea was reiterated, with plans being drawn up. Despite the potential division it could cause with the Muslim world, President Sarkozy sees the initiative as a way of promoting peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours. It is hoped that an institutional core will be established by the end of the French presidency of the European Union in 2008. On 23 October 2007 Sarkozy invited all Mediterranean leaders to a summit in France to take place in June 2008 where they would "lay the foundations of a political, economic and cultural union founded on the principles of strict equality."

Criticism of the proposal at these early stages included concern about the relationship between the proposed MU and the existing Euromediterranean Partnership, which might reduce the effectiveness of EU policies in the region and allow the southern countries to play on the rivalries to escape unpopular EU policies. There were similar economic concerns in the loss of civil society and similar human rights based policies. Duplication of polices from the EU's police and judicial area was a further worry.

Scaling down

At the start of 2008 Sarkozy began to scale down his plans for the MU due to widespread opposition from other states in the EU and the Commission (see "Reactions" below). At the end of February of that year France's minister for European affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, stated that "there is no Mediterranean Union" but rather a "Union for the Mediterranean" which would only be "completing and enriching" to existing EU structures and policy in the region. Following a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel it was agreed that the project would include all EU member states, not just those bordering the Mediterranean, and built upon the existing Barcelona process. Turkey also agreed to take part in the project following a guarantee from France that it was no longer intended as an alternative to EU membership. The MU was launched on the 13 July-14 July 2008.

Institutions and aims

The Mediterranean Union would be a looser grouping than the EU. Sarkozy called on the Mediterranean people to "do the same thing, with the same goal and the same method" as the European Union, though he stated it would not be based on the EU model. When the project began to be scaled down in 2008, many proposals were dropped, such as a Mediterranean Investment Bank (modeled on its European counterpart), and a raft of agencies. Instead it would focus on more practical projects.

Under the original plans, members would form a regular council under a rotating presidency (similar to the current EU model) dealing with energy, security, counter-terrorism, immigration and trade. French nuclear power expertise would be exchanged for North African gas reserves. The Mediterranean and European Unions would work together and share some institutions, including a common judicial area to fight corruption, terrorism, organised crime and people smuggling. Barcelona was seen as a failure by some, in part as it, in contrast, included all EU members; by including only Mediterranean states it is hoped that it would have a clearer direction, as northern European States are less interested in Mediterranean affairs. This would avoid the lack of ambition and co-ordination in Europe.

Members

The Union consists of all the EU states and those countries on the Mediterranean rim or those which are participating in the Euromediterranean Partnership. The idea is to form a connection between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

The original proposals would have only included those EU states bordering the Mediterranean: France, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Malta, Greece, and Cyprus. All other EU states would have been silent observers which angered those countries who would not be involved such as Germany as it did not approve of EU funds being used in a project over which it had no influence.

Flag	State	Population	Area km²
	Albania	3,600,523	28,748
	Algeria	33,333,216	2,381,740
	Austria	8,316,487	83,871
	Belgium	10,584,534	30,528
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4,581,239	51,197
	Bulgaria	7,679,290	110,912
	Croatia	4,453,500	56,542
	Cyprus	766,400	9,251
	Czech Republic	10,306,709	78,866
	Denmark	5,457,415	43,094
	Egypt	80,335,036	980,869
	Estonia	1,342,409	45,226
	Finland	5,289,128	338,145
	France	63,392,140	674,843
	Germany	82,314,906	357,050
	Greece	11,125,179	131,990
	Hungary	10,066,158	93,030
	Ireland	4,239,848	70,273
	Israel	7,184,000	20,770
	Italy	59,131,287	301,318
	Jordan	5,924,000	89,342
	Latvia	2,281,305	64,589
	Lebanon	4,099,000	10,452
	Lithuania	3,373,991	65,303
	Luxembourg	476,200	2,586
	Malta	404,962	316
	Mauritania	3,069,000	1,030,700
	Monaco	32,671	1.95
	Montenegro	678,177	13,812
	Morocco	33,757,175	446,550
	Netherlands	16,372,715	41,526
	Palestinian Authority	3,800,000	6,020
	Poland	38,116,486	312,683
	Portugal	10,599,095	92,391
	Romania	21,565,119	238,391
	Slovakia	5,396,168	49,037
	Slovenia	2,013,597	20,273
	Spain	45,116,894	506,030
	Sweden	9,142,817	449,964
	Syria	20,314,747	185,180
	Tunisia	10,102,000	163,610
	Turkey	70,586,256	783,562
	United Kingdom	60,587,300	244,820

Flag	State with observer status	Population	Area km²
	Libya	6,036,914	1,759,540

Reactions

Arab League

Main article: Foreign relations of the Arab League

With a population of 187,600,088 the Arab States make up 25% of the total population of the Union, with several stances for and against the Union.

Morocco and Tunisia have supported the proposal.

The Libyan government was concerned by the proposal and sent its foreign minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham to both Tunisia and Algeria to discuss the matter with their presidents prior to the arrival of Sarkozy to the region. The same source mentioned that according to well-informed sources the Libyan government believes it to be a mistake by France to publicize this project before considering the opinions of the countries of North Africa, while calling attention to the concerns of Qaddafi that France is imposing hegemony over the countries of the Arab Maghreb Union under the guise of Mediterranean cooperation.

On 11 June 2008 Syria, Egypt, Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia met in Tripoli to discuss the inclusion of other Arab League members, in response to the German lobbying to include all of the EU. During the French president's visit to Lebanon, the Lebanese president Michel Suleiman announced publicly that Lebanon supports the proposed union.

On 12 July 2008, the Arab states held a small meeting in Paris with the Arab Secretary general to discuss some proposals related to the MU articles and acts. The Arab League's official reaction to the Union was sceptical. Secretary General Amr Moussa suggested that regional problems in the Middle East must be considered before any form of the Mediterranean Union could proceed; for example the creation of the Middle East as a Nuclear weapons free zone, including nations such as Israel and Iran. Calls were also made for Israel to apply and respond to rulings under international laws against the country, such as about 70 UN resolutions in the past 60 years.

A summit expected to be held on 13 July will include heads of all Arab-Mediterranean countries (including Jordan and Mauritania) excepting Muammar al-Gaddafi and the King of Morocco.

European Union

The project is supported by Spain, Italy, and Greece. However the EU itself and Germany have been more cautious about the idea: The European Commission has stated that such initiatives promoting regional co-operation are "good", however they say the project should build on existing structures. That was in reference to the Barcelona process which the Commission noted as being "successful". It fears Sarkozy's project would undermine the work of the Barcelona process. The Commission and EU capitals would like to know more about the details of the project.

Opposition

Likewise Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave a cautious response to the initiative and emphasized that it should not compete with the EU or the Barcelona process. In December 2007, German chancellor Angela Merkel criticised Sarkozy's plans, saying that they risked splitting and threatening the core of the EU. In particular she criticised that just a small number of EU countries, excluding the others, would form the union with EU funds, stating that "this could release explosive forces in the union I would not like." When Slovenia took the EU presidency in 2008, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša added to the criticism stating: "We do not need a duplication of institutions, or institutions that would compete with EU, institutions that would cover part of the EU and part of the neighbourhood."

Malta

Sarkozy angered the Maltese government when, outlining his proposal of a Mediterranean Union in Toulon during his 2007 presidential election campaign, he listed France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus as potential members of the new entity but forgot to mention Malta. The Maltese Ambassador to France Vicki-Ann Cremona wrote to Sarkozy expressing the Maltese government’s regret at his mistake. She also reminded the then UMP Presidential candidate about Malta’s role in hosting the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly. For his part, Sarkozy immediately wrote back to apologise, reaffirming his opinion of Malta's importance in the Mediterranean region. As Minister for the Interior, Sarkozy immediately tried to make up by inviting Malta to the Frontex Exercise, paying all the expenses tied to Malta’s participation.

Scale down

In response to criticism from his European partners, Sarkozy has had to scale down his original plans for the MU. Disagreements with Germany led to a mini summit between the two leaders being delayed three months until June 2008, however Sarkozy still plans to hold a summit on 13 July involving the relevant EU states and the southern countries. This angered many EU countries outside as the rest of the EU would only be invited the day after to sign off the deal.

East Mediterranean

The Israeli president Shimon Peres views Sarkozy's suggestion very positively, but Turkey rejected the proposal as an alternative to EU membership. When Turkey was offered a guarantee in March 2008 that it would not be an alternative to the EU, Turkey accepted the invitation to participate.

See also

• Accession of Turkey to the European Union
• Arab League
  • Greater Arab Free Trade Area
  • Arab Maghrib Union
• Barcelona Conference
• Economic integration
  • Continental union
  • Intergovernmentalism
  • Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean
  • Supranationalism
• Eurabia
• Euro-Mediterranean free trade area
• Euro-Mediterranian Parliamentary Assembly
• European Neighbourhood Policy
• Middle East Free Trade Area

External links

• The Mediterranean Union: Dividing the Middle East and North Africa