Dina Ezzat and Niveen Wahish take a look at how the evolution of the EU and the Barcelona Process is affecting Egypt and other Mediterranean partner countries This week the EU celebrated its 55th anniversary, and in November the EU and its Mediterranean partners -- better known as the southern partners of the Barcelona Process (BP) -- will celebrate 10 years of an association that many describe as unfulfilled. During the EU's past 55 years, it has grown from six members to 25 and with number of countries wanting to join. Not only has the EU evolved internally, but also in how it interacts with its neighbours. Just as Europe hopes to evolve into a powerful economic -- and maybe even political -- bloc that could balance the uncontested weight of the US, the EU hopes that through the BP can transform the Mediterranean basin into a peaceful, stable and prosperous neighbourhood -- or at least to contain the potentially explosive political, economic and social problems of its southern neighbours. With the objectives of expanding the zone of a safe Europe and securing the stability of its southern neighbours, last year the EU proposed the New European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) that reaches to a wider ring of neighbours. In addition to countries that are part of the BP, the ENP also applies to Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. Constraining immigration, monitoring access to markets and subduing all possible fundamentalism in return for economic aid and cultural cooperation are all on the agenda of the ENP -- in a way that is more explicit than they ever were in the text of the Barcelona Declaration or the subsequent bilateral association agreement signed between the EU and its southern neighbours. However, as the assessment and evaluation exercise of the BP expands there seem to be more questions than answers on the prospects of the ENP and even those of the BP as such. Later this month, the foreign ministers of the BP will meet in Brussels to assess 10 years of what many on both sides admit is a partnership that has not panned out to meet expectations. This meeting is expected to consider "plans of action" that aim to give a new lease of life to the BP on its political, economic and cultural tracks. Meanwhile, Cairo -- much like many other cities around the Mediterranean -- has played host to an unending series of debates, hosted mostly by key Egyptian think tanks, the European Commission's local delegation and the Belgium Embassy. The objective of these seminars was to consider practical ways of revitalising the ambitious dreams of partnership around the Mediterranean. Many of these meetings considered the possible merger between the Barcelona Process and the European New Neighbourhood Policy. Klaus Ebermann, ambassador of the European Commission delegation in Cairo, explained at a press meeting this week that the ENP aims at supporting the policies of EU partners with a new set of instruments. Action plans, he said, are now negotiated between the EU and partner countries outlining the priorities of each country. He added that Egypt and the European Commission have so far had two rounds of informal talks and currently considering whether to have the first formal meeting or to hold one more informal meeting. In either case, he said both sides intend to have an action plan ready by the end of the year. In the case of Egypt as with other Arab/ Mediterranean countries, there are profound discussions with the European side on the order of priorities for the next phase of cooperation, be it under the umbrella of the European New Neighbourhood Policy or under the auspices of the BP after it is re-launched later this year. Arab and European diplomats, and for that matter observers, agree that setting the list of priorities is crucial. They say that to an extent the sense of contradicting priorities between the Europeans, who focussed on economics, and the Arabs, who focussed on politics, that handicapped the march of the BP. The importance of setting priorities for future cooperation between the European Union and was highlighted at a recent seminar organised by the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies and during another seminar hosted on Sunday by the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs and the Belgian Royal Institute for International Relations. Ahmed Galal, executive director of ECES, stressed that a broad discussion, including the governmental and non-governmental, is essential to decided the priorities. And according to Bernard Hoekman, an economist with the World Bank, setting the priorities is essential to decide on the instruments that will be used to achieve them. Hoekman argues that, in the case of the Egypt Action plan under the ENP, for example, deciding the right priorities could help the country obtain a combination of binding agreements on specific issues or softer forms of economic cooperation. This, a number of current and former Egyptian diplomats agree, does not only apply to the economic aspect but also to the political and cultural aspects. According to Ambassador Abdel-Raouf El- Ridi, and Ambassador Amin Sayed Chalabi of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, Arabs and Europeans wasted significant opportunities for progress on the BP due to problems related to developments in the Middle East Peace Process and stirrings of anti-Arab and immigrant feelings in Europe. "The question of security is very important for our countries. We need to develop a question of security if we really want to talk about a safe and stable Mediterranean neighbourhood. This is one of our priorities. As a matter of fact, it is a top priority," El-Ridi said. Meanwhile, Arab and European diplomats and commentators stressed the need for follow-up and monitoring mechanism. They said that the reassessment process of the BP and the foundations of the ENP should -- and many asserted unquestionably will -- involve greater monitoring of implementation and stronger linkages between objectives achieved and financial assistance. "We have to admit that we failed to monitor. We [in Egypt] failed to carefully review the text of our association agreement with the European Union to make sure that we are getting 100 per cent rights by virtue of the text of this agreement," commented Ambassador Gamal Bayoumi, one of the architects of this agreement. According to Bayoumi, who is a vocal advocate of closer Egyptian- European and Arab-European cooperation, without careful follow-up mechanisms, nobody on either side should expect any agreement, no matter how ambitious, to yield fruit. Arab and European diplomats agree that in light of the growing obsession of the European Union with integrating its new members, Arab neighbours have to fight hard for sufficient attention.
