MEPs from the PES told EurActiv that the proposal, unveiled yesterday (14 May), came in response to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's 'Union of the Mediterranean', backed by EU leaders at a summit in March – albeit in a watered-down version.
Pasqualina Napoletano, vice chairwoman of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, called Sarkozy's proposals "voluntarist" and "not very clear". She also cautioned against "national hegemony" and attempts to "reinvent the Mediterranean", adding that Sarkozy had probably not heard about the 'Barcelona process' when he first launched his proposals.
However, Napoletano adopted a more positive note regarding the development of Mediterranean relations by building on existing experience, a process which began with the 1995 Barcelona Declaration.
The document she presented highlights the need to overcome "hysterical fears" over immigration, in her words. Instead, she said Europe should concentrate on long-term strategies for projects, fostering employment in its southern partner countries and reducing the social gap between north and south.
She also stressed the need to help civil society and democratic political forces in the Southern Mediterranean. The Socialists are also keen to keep the EU membership perspective for Turkey and would not like to have it substituted by a Mediterranean partnership. Napoletano said the PES in fact has very close political relations with the ruling AKP, the party of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan.
The PES is also demanding that the European Parliament be consulted over the establishment of permanent bodies for Euro-Mediterranean co-operation. It also insists that a dignified place for the parliamentary dimension be found, building on the existing Euro-Mediterranean parliamentary assembly, or APEM.
