The two-day summit in Barcelona has been described in the press as a "fractious" and "lacklustre" event where the most contentious issues have been "fudged". The summit's outcome reflected deep disagreement among the participants about the definition of terrorism and the distinction between a terrorist and a freedom fighter.
Several Arab representatives insisted that the fight against terrorism should not be allowed to have a bearing on the "right of peoples under foreign occupation or resistance". The EU, on the other hand, argued that self-determination could not be considered a justification for terrorism.
As a result, the British EU Presidency had to relinquish its original plans for a "common vision" statement which would have linked European aid more directly to democratic, economic and political reforms in the Mediterranean region. However, the EU's demands for reforms in exchange for increased funding were also perceived negatively by some Arab participants.
The participants hammered out a last-minute agreement on a code of conduct to fight terrorism, in which they condemned terrorism "without qualification", and they also adopted a five-year work programme for the Euro-Mediterranean framework which seeks to extend co-operation into the sensitive areas of security and combatting illegal migration. According to the work programme, the participants share the Euro-Mediterranean framework's original aim of creating a free trade area in the region by 2010.
The 35 countries also pledged "their renewed commitment to the objective of achieving a common area of peace, stability and prosperity in the Mediterranean region through ongoing dialogue, exchange and cooperation".
