No one would be adventurous enough to claim that the first year of the "Barcelona Track – The Union for the Mediterranean", the gathering founded by President Nicholas Sarkozy in the context of cementing peace and cooperation in the Mediterranean basin through a partnership between the countries overlooking the sea and the European Union, had a practical positive result. The first summit of this gathering, which took place in Paris last June, aroused much hope and interest. But this interest focused on the quality of the attendees more than on the issues mentioned in the official agenda of the summit. The press and camera lenses focused on the presence of Egyptian President Husni Mubarak, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a manner that almost eclipsed the workings of the summit. This meant, from the start, that the issues of the Middle East, including the Arab-Israeli struggle, and the Arab reconciliations, control any practical cooperation in the Mediterranean and that any progress in the joint ventures that benefit the inhabitants of this basin is closely linked to the political situation in it. The ambitions announced by Sarkozy, which reflect the French President's style that focuses on causing as much noise as possible, did not convince many people in the Mediterranean basin and the European Union about the ability to implement them. But everyone was working not to anger France and its President, so the invitation sent to Turkey to attend the summit and enter into a partnership with the European Union came filled with tactful verbal compromises to contain Ankara's desire to join the European Union and the German objections to the rise of the Mediterranean Union. The generosity with promises about choosing the locations of the institutions was used as an enticement to attract hesitant participants like Germany, Italy, and even Tunis. As for the leaders of the eastern basin, each of them came with a different desire. Olmert tried to get a picture or handshake with the Syrian President to cover up the threats to his position in Kadima and at the head of the government coming from the scandals and protests. President Al-Assad came to confirm that the siege imposed on Syria has been lifted, after years of "isolation". This step was crowned with the summit with his Lebanese counterpart, which inaugurated the path of reviving diplomatic relations between the two countries. This issue can be considered the most important result of the first summit of the "Union for the Mediterranean". It is true that three meetings were held at the ministerial level, first in Marseille in November of last year then in Paris last June then in Brussels during this month. But these meetings remained more procedural than decisive concerning the issues and goals for which the Union was created. They were restricted to discussing general ideas like preserving the environment, fighting pollution, and establishing "naval and land highways, developing solar energy, education, and scientific research, protecting civilians, and developing small and large businesses". The meager results of these meetings, and other meetings at the level of experts, were not due to lack of enthusiasm for involvement in such cooperative efforts, but to political and economic circumstances in the region and the world that arose after the establishment of this union. At the head of the political circumstances, we see the great decline afflicting the Arab-Israeli peace process thanks to the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip and the election of an extremist Israeli government. This toppled all the chances for resuming negotiations with the Palestinians and indirect negotiations with the Syrians. With the political impasse and the increasing Israeli leanings towards violence and inflexibility, the European Union, including France, ran up against a situation in which it was impossible to revive the peace process as per the standards set out in the Marseille statement, i.e. the desire for comprehensive and just peace "on the basis of land for peace principle, the international resolutions relating to the struggle, and the roadmap". Then came the international economic crisis and the great financial costs it incurred on the countries to save the banks and finance the rampant unemployment in Europe. This greatly limited the ability of the members of the EU to honor their promises to present aid to build the structures of the "Union for the Mediterranean" or finance any project in its context. Thus the circumstances and developments conspired to restrain many of the ambitions that led to the establishment of the "Union for the Mediterranean". Regardless of the announcement made after the French-Egyptian presidential summit held in Paris yesterday, it does not seem possible that we will see, in the foreseeable future, a serious breakthrough towards cementing peace and practical cooperation between the members of the Union.
