MEDITERRANEAN COMMON STRATEGY AND THE
CHARTER FOR PEACE AND STABILITY
(21271)
—
|
Presidency draft of the Common Strategy of the European Union on
the Mediterranean Region.
|
| Legal base:
| Article 13.2 TEU; unanimity
|
| |
| Department: |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
|
| Basis of consideration:
| Minister's letter of 1 August 2000
|
| Previous Committee Report:
| HC 23-xx (1999-2000), paragraph 10 (7 June 2000)
|
| To be discussed in Council:
| November 2000 |
| Committee's assessment:
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision:
| Cleared (decision reported on 7 June 2000); further information requested
|
Background
7.1 We cleared an unofficial Presidency text
of this Strategy in June[23]
but sought further information from the Government, when available.
One question we put was on the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for
Peace and Stability. This is described as a politically, but
not legally, binding document, but we were not clear as to its
exact status in relation to the Common Strategy.
7.2 The Common Strategy, which establishes the
policy the Member States agree that the EU should pursue in its
relations with the Mediterranean, sets out the objectives and
means to be used.
The Minister's letter
7.3 In a letter dated 1 August, the Minister
of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (Mr Vaz) replies
that the Charter "grew out of" the Barcelona Declaration
of 1995, which established the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
It was signed by the EU15 and 11 Mediterranean States, plus the
Palestinian Authority. The signatories to the Declaration[24]
agreed to consider a "pact" to create an area of peace
and stability in the Mediterranean. At the Euro-Med Ministerial
meeting in Stuttgart in 1999, Foreign Ministers decided to begin
work on a charter, rather than a pact, and to aim to agree it
at the Ministerial Meeting in Marseilles in November 2000.
7.4 A set of broad guidelines, which the Minister
encloses, was agreed in Stuttgart. At the "think-tank"
Euro-Med Ministerial at Lisbon in May, a Progress Report was agreed,
which the Minister also encloses. The Minister expected the French
Presidency to work up "some draft conceptual ideas"
for the Charter into a text.
7.5 The Minister says that:
"The British Government
welcomes the concept of a Charter as a political framework for
building dialogue with countries of the southern Mediterranean.
As some of these countries lie only a few miles from the southern
boundary of the EU, it is important over the longer term to build
an enhanced political and security partnership with them. At the
same time, we will work to ensure that the Charter fits properly
with, and works effectively alongside, existing political and
security frameworks in the region".
The Progress Report
7.6 The Progress Report was prepared by Senior
Officials. It builds on the Guidelines, setting out what they
agreed should be the general nature and content of the Charter.
It includes one paragraph which records:
"Among suggestions which
Senior Officials have not yet considered is the idea that the
Charter should establish a new zone free from weapons of mass-destruction
and their delivery systems, especially nuclear weapons in the
Middle East".
Prospects for Marseilles
7.7 The EU Presidency acts as rapporteur
for Euro-Med. This is why the draft has been produced by the French.
The 27 members of Euro-Med are equal and decisions are taken by
consensus. Israel is a member and the breakdown of the Middle
East peace process is, we understand, making consensus even more
difficult than usual.
Conclusion
7.8 We understand that it is the intention
of the French Presidency to have the Charter agreed at the Marseilles
Ministerial on 17 November and that an early draft was sent to
the 12 non-EU members of Euro-Med in mid-October. The Foreign
and Commonwealth Office has undertaken to submit an Explanatory
Memorandum, as soon as a document is available which bears some
resemblance to the text to be presented in Marseilles.
7.9 It is far from certain that the Presidency
will succeed in having the Charter agreed on 17 November, but
we ask the Government to provide us with an Explanatory Memorandum
and an unofficial text by 3 November, so that we can consider
it at our meeting on 8 November, even if this text is not necessarily
close to the text it expects to be presented in Marseilles.
7.10 This document was cleared on 7 June,
but we now request further information.
23 See headnotes to this paragraph. Back
24 The
signatories were representatives of the Council, the Commission,
the 15 Member States, Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan,
Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and the Palestinian
Authority. Back
|
