The Union for the Mediterranean: a rescue plan for Europe an opportunity or an opportunity for the Maghreb

2- The Union for the Mediterranean: a Philosophy of Partnership and Development:

A/ The UfM a part of the European Neighborhood Policy:

The UfM represents a concrete instance of The European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). In fact, the ENP was developed in 2004. According to the European Commission; it was established «with the objective of avoiding the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged EU and its neighbors and instead strengthening the prosperity, stability and security of all concerned.»^5(*) In such a way, «The EU offers its neighbors a privileged relationship, built upon a mutual commitment to common values (democracy and human rights, rule of law, good governance, market economy principles and sustainable development). Moreover, «The ENP goes beyond existing relationships to offer a deeper political relationship and economic integration.»^6(*) Therefore, The European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) aims to forge closer ties with countries to the South and East of the EU without offering them a membership perspective. Thus, the EU seeks to promote greater economic stability and better governance in its neighborhood, through instating a project such as the UfM.

B/ The importance of the UfM for its supporters:

The UfM represents for the European supporters a great initiative since it will launch both shores of the Mediterranean onto a further partnership that would generate benefits. Indeed, it also represents an opportunity to bridge the gap between two neighbor entities. Furthermore, it will be a new opportunity to strengthen the Euro-Mediterranean relations. In addition, the project forecasts the promotion of peace in the whole region (i.e. the Palestinian issue), also cultural and social comprehension within the people of the region and additionally, it represents a new step towards the protection of the environment, since the UfM lays importance on environmental issues.

For those who support the UfM on the Maghreb side, the project represents an opportunity for the region since it aims to strengthen the links of cooperation between Europe and the Maghreb. For instance, the Tunisian government affirms its acceptance of the project especially because 80% of the economic exchanges in this country are with the European Union. Hence, the UfM would represent an additional opportunity for Tunisia to get further involved in a partnership with Europe, in a way to be able to face different problems such as unemployment. Moreover, The Moroccan government joins Tunisia in its stand and affirms its effective readiness to get involved in the project. However, the project left many questions unanswered for some leaders in the Maghreb region. In fact, the Algerian leader A. Boutaflika was not very enthusiastic in the beginning. In fact he depicted the project as an

Embiguous initiative from the European neighbor, that's why he asked for further details. Nevertheless, he decided to join because he acknowledged that the UfM represents an important deal especially that its immediate neighbors joined the project. So far, the UfM seems not to convince the Libyan leader M. Kadhafi. In fact, he totally discarded the initiative and did not hesitate to depict it as a conspiracy revolved around the natural resources of the region.

C/ UfM: Strategies for Development:

The UfM needs effective strategies to achieve a successful process of development. Therefore, joint efforts should be undertaken in order to make the plan of partnership as concrete as possible. Indeed, the Mediterranean states should adopt a consensual vision to be able to pull-out the region from a climate of economic backwardness and most importantly, to give to the southern states the opportunity to bridge the gap that separates them from the northern neighbor. Accordingly, the EU seems to be engaged in a trend of support towards the southern shore especially for the Maghreb region. In fact, different agencies and institutions are involved in this process of development by providing important amounts of money in order to enhance the situation in the region. Among the provided supports there are Official Development Aid (ODA), Subsidies and loans.

Area	Subsidies	Loans	Guaranties	Budget aids	Total	Percentage of the budget
Maghreb	27.7 M€	702.3M€	12.5 M€	375.0 M€	1127.6 M€	41.72%

Source: French Development Agency, 2007 annual report, P 92-93.

In the table above, some data demonstrate the importance of the contribution of the French Development Agency (FDA). Accordingly, 41.72% of the development budget of the FDA is absorbed by the Maghreb region, which make out of the French agency among the most important supporters of development in the region. However, the FDA does not represent the only contributor in the process of development in the Maghreb region.
In fact, other important institutions such as the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are considered as important contributors to the development in the Maghreb. Although denounced by different associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), international institutions remain the dominant funds suppliers for developing states. Moreover, some denounce the proceedings of IGOs and depict their behavior as inequitable. In this context, Jaroslava Colajacomo pledges that «the EIB is not playing the role of a development bank. For instance, in Latin America, the EIB is offering 90% of its subsidies to the huge European companies.»^7(*) In other words they are supporting the huge Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) at the expense of the local industry. In addition to funds' provision, the WB, IMF and the European Commission are likely dictating plans and road map for development for South Mediterranean states and especially the Maghreb region.

D/ Fields to Explore in the UfM:

As for any project, the UfM needs define the fields of exploration so to act in a coherent approach in order to draw benefits from the initiative. Hence, a report of the French parliamentary assembly (Report N: 449) on the project of the Union for the Mediterranean,^8(*) stresses three axes namely; «the problems of water resources in the region, the necessity to safeguard the common natural heritage through the protection of the environment and the management of environmental risks and finally the establishment of a cultural dialogue in order to avoid the «clash of civilizations». However, other analysts depict different axes of cooperation. In a recent piece of work entitled «5+5=32: A road map for the Mediterranean,»^9(*) a circle of French economists, headed by Hubert Védrine,^10(*) distinguished four axes of cooperation on which a Euro-Mediterranean partnership should be based; first, the establishment of an agrarian cooperation, an energetic cooperation, instating competitiveness in textile industry and building capacities in the southern states of the Mediterranean. Indeed, the divergence in defining the fields of cooperation revolves questions around some controversial issues, such as, immigration and most importantly the issue of exploiting natural resources in the Maghreb region. Despite some Maghreb leaders' skepticism, the French president pledges for a «win-win»^11(*) partnership. Accordingly, the UfM would be beneficial for any state that tends to get involved into this Union. In fact, N.Sarkozy thinks that Europe and Maghreb states have complementary needs and the UfM is the way out from all the problems. Moreover, he stipulates that there are numerous stakes and challenges that urge the two shores of the Mediterranean, to get into further complementarities despite the considerable socio-political and economic gap dividing the entities of the region.

Thus a range of ideas mentioned in the frame work of «Barcelona process» remained unfortunately behind high initial European expectations. So, it is up to this new alternative (i.e. UfM) to reboot the old initiative, and so far to make the partnership a reality so to permit all the states of the region to draw benefits and to strengthen the tradition of concord.

* 5

Nicu Popescu «The EU's sovereign neighbors». ECFR (The European Council of Foreign relations)

* 6

www.ec.europa.eu: European Commission, the European Neighborhood Policy, «What's the ENP?»

* 7

Jaroslava Colajacomo, « La BEI dans les pays du Sud, au bénéfice de qui ? [ Archive] », janvier 2006, Amis de la Terre, p. 4. Consulté le 26 novembre 2007.

* 8

Rapport d'information déposé en application de l'article 145 du Règlement par la commission des affaires étrangères Française en conclusion des travaux d'une mission d'information constituée le 31 juillet 2007 sur le thème « Comment construire l'Union méditerranéenne ? »

* 9

Le cercle des économistes et Hubert Verdine: « 5+5=32 ; feuille de route pour l'union pour la méditerranée ».

* 10

Hubert Verdine: a French Socialist politician. Diplomatic adviser of President Mitterrand, he served as secretary-general of the presidency from 1991 to 1995, then as Foreign Minister in the government of Lionel Jospin from 1997 to 2002.

* 11

Win-win pole: a partnership with equal benefits and opportunities.