Olive Group meeting in Cyprus plans for Mediterranean Union

The Foreign Ministers of the Mediterranean EU Member States, also known as the “Olive Group”, concluded their fifth informal meeting held in in Paphos, Cyprus, on Thursday and Friday.

An official announcement said the ministers “had an open and fruitful exchange of ideas on various issues that are of high importance for the Mediterranean region and the EU in general.”

Discussions included the recent developments in the Middle East Peace Process in the post-Annapolis period and following the Paris Conference of 17 December 2007, which led to the announcement of contributions of up to $67.4 bln.

“The insecurity on the ground and the humanitarian crisis continue to have a negative and destabilizing impact on the political process. Building upon the commitment of the USA to push forward the Peace Process, the EU, and the Quartet more broadly, have a constructive role to play. We have also discussed tangible projects of the “Olive Group” members to this effect,” the announcement said.

On Lebanon, the ministers pledged full support to the Arab League initiative to resolve the current political impasse and underlined the positive impact that the cooperation of the EU with the Arab League can have on the region. They also acknowledged the importance of the role played by Syria. Consequently, the EU should define a consistent policy towards Syria.    

The Olive Group reaffirmed support to all efforts which have as an objective the strengthening of the cooperation between European and Mediterranean countries and reiterated the importance of the Mediterranean region for the security, stability and prosperity of the European Union.

In this context, the ministers expressed support for reflection on the creation of a Union for the Mediterranean as a project-based mechanism, founded on the principle of equality of states.

Moreover, the meeting agreed that the Union would be complementary to the existing cooperation frameworks, particularly the Barcelona process, and that it would, in no way, interfere or substitute the accession prospects of the candidate countries. All member states of the EU should be involved in this initiative, the announcement said, adding that “we decided to further discuss this proposal, in order to take it forward, ahead of the Heads of State meeting to be held in Paris, on 13-14 July 2008.”

On Kosovo the ministers reiterated the leading role of the EU and the need to maintain an EU unified position and also the deployment of the ESDP Mission, on the basis of the December 2007 European Council Conclusions. In addition, they reconfirmed Serbia’s European perspective, exchanged views on how to accelerate it, supporting the early signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement.

On migration the announcement said the ministers’ meeting “agreed for a coherent, coordinated, balanced and comprehensive approach. Regarding legal migration, emphasis was placed on cooperation, dialogue and development assistance to third countries of origin, in particular through pilot projects. In this framework we consider mobility partnerships very important for economic and social development.”

The problem of illegal immigration was also discussed and the officials stressed that the Mediterranean is a region most affected and vulnerable from this phenomenon and therefore solidarity and cooperation between all member states is indispensable for the protection of the Union and its citizens. The role of FRONTEX and the need to enhance its operational capacity were highlighted in this regard and it was agreed that the issue of a risk analysis sub unit dedicated to sensitive strategic regions, such as the Mediterranean, would need to be assessed in terms of potential added value.  

The ministers added that they also stressed the need for early conclusion and faithful implementation of readmission agreements with third countries. The current Slovenian and the following French EU Presidency will accord the issue of migration top priority, the said.

The Olive Group meeting also welcomed the initiative for the enhancement of the European cooperation for the prevention and response to natural disasters and emergencies. To that end they reiterated the October 2007 GAERC conclusions for the substantial improvement of the Natural Disasters Response Mechanism.

The next meeting will be held in Italy in the second half of 2008.