External Relations and ENP Commissioner briefs MEPs
Progress was made at the ministerial
meeting held in Marseille on the Union for the Mediterranean’s (UfM)
institutional structure, the 2009 work programme and the political
declaration, EU Commissioner for External Relations and the ENP, Benita
Ferrero-Waldner told the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee.
She recalled that after the Paris Summit in July, official meetings
stalled as a result of differences between the Arab group and Israel on
the question of Arab League participation, ”a further reminder, were
any needed, of the urgency of making progress on the Middle East Peace
Process (MEPP).”
The Commission, she noted, “provided
much of the substance in particular with regard to the proposals for
the institutional set up of the process and, you will be pleased to
hear, argued strongly for your idea of a strong parliamentary dimension
for the UPM through the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly.
Those like me who have followed every single Ministerial of EuroMed for
the last 13 years are particularly satisfied with the language on MEPP,
a real improvement compared to the one in the Paris declaration. I hope
this is a good basis on which we will be able to build on at the
forthcoming meeting of the Quartet in Sharm el Sheik that I am planning
to attend. It will be a historic occasion, the first meeting with the
parties, in the region, an occasion where I hope the EU can play an
important political role.”
The Commissioner said “the Middle
East should be our top priority. We must seek US engagement right from
the start of the next President’s mandate...”
Javier Solana – Remarks
EuroMed Info Centre – UfM
Contact information | n/a |
---|---|
News type | Inbrief |
File link |
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/08/586&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en |
Source of information | EuroMed Info Centre |
Keyword(s) | Mediterranean-Union, Union for the Mediterranean, Union-for-the-Mediterranean |
Subject(s) | POLICY-WATER POLICY AND WATER MANAGEMENT |
Relation | http://www.semide.org/initiatives/mediterranean-union |
Geographical coverage | Euromed |
News date | 12/11/2008 |
Working language(s) | ENGLISH |
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