Paris - After the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, the European Union's main concern was to bring democracy and prosperity to its former communist neighbours in the east.
Now, under the impetus of Nicolas Sarkozy, France's ebullient president, it is turning south.
On Sunday, the bloc's 27 leaders were joined in Paris by their counterparts from across the Mediterranean Sea for the formal launch of the Union for the Mediterranean.
Its stated goal is to transform the Mediterranean basin into an area of 'peace, democracy, cooperation and prosperity' through common regional projects that meet the populations' needs.
These include de-polluting the Mediterranean, promoting clean solar energy, creating maritime highways to deliver goods, and encouraging the spread of small businesses.
By spreading prosperity, the union will, in the words of Sarkozy, 'change the world' and 'make way for a great dream of peace and a great dream of civilization.'
Beyond the rhetoric, the EU has much to gain from furthering ties with its southern neighbours.
Long seen as a troublesome region of religious extremists and desperate emigrants, the EU's southern neighbourhood is ready for an economic revolution.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the region totalled nearly 60 billion dollars in 2006. Only China attracted more FDI that year. And its gross domestic product is growing by around 4.5 per cent each year, double that of sclerotic old Europe.
The oil and gas fields of northern Africa, meanwhile, provide attractive alternatives to the EU's dependency on unpredictable Russia for its energy needs.
And as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pointed out in Paris, the alternative of doing nothing to help lift the region from poverty would likely spark a massive influx of immigrants bound for the Mediterranean's wealthy northern neighbours.
'What will be the situation in the Mediterranean, in particular on the southern shores, in 2030 or 2050? And what consequences will that have on our partners on the northern shores?' he said, noting that current projections showed the area's population growing from 272 to 332 million in 2020.
In fact, the EU already has a 13-year-old southern neighbourhood policy, which is known as the Barcelona Process. But despite investments totalling billions of euros over the years, officials in Brussels concede that it has not realized its full potential.
'We have done a lot, but the glass is half full. Now we have to see it completely full,' said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's external affairs commissioner.
On top of its focus on specific projects, to be financed at least in part by private money, the Union for the Mediterranean will also give the EU's southern neighbours a greater voice through the establishment of a co-presidency and a common secretariat.
But finding an agreement among its 40-plus members, which include old foes Israel and Syria, will not be easy. For instance, those attending its launch on Sunday wrangled over the exact wording of a common declaration that refers to terrorism and nuclear weapons.
Pressure groups, meanwhile, have complained that the union risks relegating the issue of human rights to the sidelines.
'The Union for the Mediterranean initiative may lead to a serious breach of the EU's commitments to raise human rights concerns in all bilateral relations,' Amnesty International wrote in a letter to the French president ahead of Sunday's launch.
The common declaration makes only a passing reference to human rights, but Ferrero-Waldner insisted Sunday that calls for the spread of democracy and human rights were already present in the Barcelona Process, which the Union for the Mediterranean merely seeks to update.
'Human rights, democratization and the rule of law ... are also the foundations of this further development. They have not been taken out and they will not go away,' she said.
1Jul 14th, 2008 - 11:56:00
---After the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, the European Union's main concern was to bring democracy and prosperity to its former communist neighbours in the east.---
ATENTION! THIS JOURNALIST IS AN IDIOT WHO DOESNT KNOW HOW TO WRITE AN ARTICLE!
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