Magda El-Ghitany reports on Arab preparations for this month's Barcelona Summit Foreign ministers and representatives of the Barcelona Declaration's Arab member states met in Cairo last week to coordinate their positions ahead of the Barcelona Summit, scheduled for 27 and 28 November. The summit will mark the 10th anniversary of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, enshrined in the Barcelona Declaration adopted by the Euro-Mediterranean conference in November 1995. The declaration's three chapters provide a blueprint for comprehensive partnership agreements covering security, economic, financial, cultural and social issues between the 25 EU member states and 10 southern and eastern Mediterranean states -- Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. Last week's Arab partners' meeting -- attended by Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa as well as representatives from Libya and Mauritania -- was an attempt to "coordinate the Arab stance and tackle points of disagreements regarding the three major documents" expected to be released following the summit. Issues discussed include a joint security programme for the next five years, strategies to combat terrorism and the summit's final communiqué, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit told reporters following the meeting. Abul- Gheit added that disagreements among Mediterranean partners stem either from different visions held by Arab states or from the "differences between Arab partners on one side and Israel, which is also a Mediterranean partner, on the other". Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrived in Cairo last week as part of his four-day trip to the Middle East. He met with President Hosni Mubarak and Abul-Gheit to discuss the coming Euro-partnership summit. Senior Arab diplomats believe Arab coordination ahead of the Barcelona Summit is essential. "The coming summit is of vital importance. It will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the whole partnership process," said Algerian Foreign Minister Abdel-Aziz Belkhadem following the meeting. "The main goal of the summit," Abul-Gheit concurred, "is to answer questions such as where we stand now, what obstacles exist to intensified cooperation and what measures should be taken to consolidate levels of cooperation. Answers to these questions are necessary if we are to fully activate future partnerships between both sides." Regional and international tensions -- the continuing Arab-Israeli conflict, the occupation of Iraq and the threat posed by Israel's nuclear arsenal -- have complicated the implementation of many aspects of the declaration's first two chapters. In addition, the attacks of 9/11 and the more recent London bombings, have hampered attempts to implement the declaration's third chapter promoting cultural tolerance. It is to further this last goal that the Anna Lindh Euro- Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures, the most recent off-shoot of the declaration, was established last April. Senior Egyptian diplomats view the coming summit as marking a new phase in the Barcelona partnership. As such it has a loaded agenda: in addition to tackling issues previously discussed -- reducing illegal immigration, establishing a common free trade zone by 2010, eradicating illiteracy in southern Mediterranean states by 2015, intensifying joint efforts to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict and promoting political reform in Arab states -- partners are expected to open other thorny files. Discussions over the status of Muslims in Europe will top the list of new issues though the debate will nominally centre on xenophobia rather than the more specific Islamophobia. Despite the challenges confronting both partners, Egyptian diplomats are optimistic regarding the future of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. "The Barcelona Declaration is alive and has proved a success despite all the criticisms it faces," said Abul--Gheit. "It was, and will always be, a genuine chance for serious dialogue to take place."
