The European Union and the Arab World: from the Rome Treaty to the Arab Spring
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IEMed. European Institute of the Mediterranean Consortium formed by: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Government of Catalonia Barcelona City Council President: Artur Mas President of the Government of Catalonia Vice-Presidents: José Manuel García-Margallo Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Joana Ortega Vice-President of the Government of Catalonia Xavier Trias Mayor of Barcelona President of the Executive Committee: Senén Florensa Director General: Andreu Bassols Board of Trustees: Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, BBVA Caixa d’Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona Cambra de Comerç, Indústria i Navegació de Barcelona El Consorci. Zona Franca de Barcelona Endesa Iberia Telefónica Consell Interuniversitari de Catalunya PapersIEMed. Published by the European Institute of the Mediterranean Coordination: Pol Morillas Proof-reading: Neil Charlton Layout: Núria Esparza ISSN: 1988-7981 Legal deposit: B-27445-2011 March 2013 On the occasion of the EuroMeSCo Annual Conference “Europe, the Mediterranean and the Arab Spring: Crisis as an Opportunity”, held in Barcelona on 4th and 5th October 2012, distinguished analysts presented the results of their research on the new dynamics in the region following the Arab uprisings. Three major issues were explored: the internal dynamics of Arab countries and the role of civil society, the ge- ostrategic consequences of the Arab Spring and the future of Euro-Mediterranean relations. This series of EuroMeSCo Papers brings together the revised research works presented during the EuroMeSCo Annual Conference. This publication has been produced with the assistance of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the AECID or the Eu- ropean Institute of the Mediterranean. CONTENTS The European Union and the Arab World: from the Rome Treaty to the Arab Spring Bichara Khader* INTRODUCTION 8 PART 1: EUROPEAN POLICIES TOWARDS THE ARAB WORLD AND THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION (1957-2012) 10 Euro-Arab Dialogue (1973-1989) 12 Multilateral-Bilateral Agreements 13 Global Mediterranean Policy (GMP) 14 Renewed Mediterranean Policy (1990-1996) 15 Specific Sub-Regional Relations 15 Multilateral Agreement with Sub-Regional Organisations: EU-Gulf Relations (1988-2012) 19 Going Back to the Multilateral-Bilateral Track in Euro-Mediterranean Relations (EMP-ENP-UfM) 22 Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) or Barcelona Process (1995) 23 European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) (2004-2012) 26 Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) (2007-2012) 29 Conclusion of Part 1 30 *Director of the Arab Study and Research Center, University of Louvain, Belgium. PART 2: THE EU AND THE ARAB SPRING 32 Introduction 33 European Response 34 Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity with the Southern Mediterranean 35 A New Response to a Changing Neighbourhood: a Review of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) 36 Critical Comments on the Communications 36 The Instruments of the New European Approach 39 The EU as a Peace-Promoter 41 GENERAL CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS 44 Introduction The European Union and the Arab World: from the Rome Treaty to the Arab Spring For many Europeans, the Arab World is seen, at best, as an oil well and a huge market and, at worst, as a turbulent and dangerous environment. Thus, access to oil, market penetration and security interests have largely driven European policies towards this region. Under different denominations and umbrellas, European policies in the past 65 years have pursued the same objectives: energy, market and security. This has been the case of the Global Mediterranean Policy (1972-1992), the Euro-Arab Dialogue (1974-1989), the Renewed Mediterranean Policy (1990-1996), the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (1995-2008), the European Neighbourhood Policy (2004-2012) and, finally, the Union for the Mediterranean (2008-2012). Sometimes, two or three overlapping policies were conducted at the same time. Other objectives, such as conflict resolution and human rights and democracy promotion, have often been mentioned in the EU official documents (communications of the Commission, declarations of the European Councils and resolutions of the European Parliament). However, the discrepancy between rhetoric and deeds has been appalling. The European role in the Arab-Israeli conflict resolution has been marginal, declaratory and often hesitant if not incoherent. Meanwhile, the question of human rights and democracy, supposedly the core of European policies, was put on the backburner for reasons of “realpolitik”: Arab Civil society has not been taken seriously as a partner in dialogue. The Arab Spring caught the EU off guard and demonstrated the vibrancy of Arab civil society. The EU took note of the developments unfolding in many Arab countries and was forced to respond urgently to the new challenges. This paper is an attempt to shed some light on past European relations with the Arab World and to critically assess the new European response. Med. IE PAPERS 9 Part 1: European Policies towards the Arab World and the Mediterranean Region (1957-2012) The European Union and the Arab World: from the Rome Treaty to the Arab Spring Relations between the European Economic Community (EEC), later denominated the European Union (EU), and the Arab countries fall into four categories: the Euro-Arab Dialogue (1973-1989); the network of multilateral (EU)-bilateral agreements (each southern country) under the so-called Global Mediterranean Policy (1972-1992), the Renewed Mediterranean Policy (1992-1995), the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP, 1995-2008), the European Neighbourhood Policy (2004-2012) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM, 2008-2012); the multilateral agreements with sub-regional organisations such as the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council Agreement (1988); and other sub-regional relations between some European member states and some Arab or Mediterranean countries, such as the idea of a Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Mediterranean (1990), the 5+5 initiative (1990) and the Franco-Egyptian initiative entitled the Forum of the Mediterranean (1992). Such a plethora of initiatives derives from simple evidence: the Arab World is Europe’s first frontier. Only 14 kilometres separate Spain from Morocco: one can even say, if we take into account the Spanish enclaves (Ceuta and Melilla) in Morocco, that European territory is adjacent to Arab territory. No wonder, therefore, that Arab history, economics and politics are so intertwined with European history, economics and politics. Proximity is, therefore, the cornerstone of Euro-Arab relations but the Arab World is perceived in Europe as the nearest “difference” while Europe perceives itself as the nearest “reference”. Europe’s colonial history in the Arab World has left its mark on the dynamics of relations across the Mediterranean basin. The EU has been and still is the major trading partner of the Arab World (almost 50% of total Arab trade and 62% of total Maghreb trade). Such an extreme verticality in trade relations contrasts with weak inter-Arab trade. Here lies the first specificity of Euro-Arab relations; we have two different groupings: the first, the EU, is the most integrated region in the world, with almost 72% of internal trade, and the second, the Arab World, is the least integrated region in the world with, at best, 10- 12% of intra-zone trade. The Arab World is an indispensable partner of the EU in one single sector: energy. More than 50% of EU imports of oil and 18% of total gas imports1 come from the Arab World. The non-oil producing Arab countries mainly export agricultural products, some weak Med. added-value industrial products (textile), raw materials but also migrants. In a recent study, IE I estimated the total number of Arabs living in Europe at between 7 to 8 million (80% of them of Maghreb origin), taking into account Arab migrants and Arab expatriates, PAPERS 2 naturalised and non-naturalised, regular and irregular migrants. 11 1. B. Khader, “European interests in the Arab World”, in Casa Árabe, European Union and the Arab World, Madrid, Casa Árabe-CIDOB, 2010, pp. 14-29. See also M. Sakbani, “Europe 1992 and the Arab Countries”, in B. Khader (ed.), “The EEC and the Arab World”, special issue of the Journal of Arab Affairs, Vol. 12, No. 1, Spring 1993, pp. 113-124. 2. B. Khader, Les migrations dans les rapports euro-arabes et euro-méditerranéens, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2011, 229 p. The European Union and the Arab World: from the Rome Treaty to the Arab Spring With such a high degree of dependency, no wonder that the EEC and then the EU always endeavoured to tie the Arab World to its market through a wide range of policy frameworks and initiatives. Without going too much into detail, this study seeks to assess the contribution of these policies and initiatives to bridge the gap between the two regions and to promote democratic change in the Arab World. Euro-Arab Dialogue (1973-1989) On the eve of the signing of the Rome Treaty in 1957, Europe was losing ground in the Middle East. France was grappling with the Algerian liberation movement and, after the Suez War in which France, England and Israel took part, the new superpowers (the US and the USSR), acting in unison, indicated that times had changed and it was they who would be laying down the rules from now on and filling the strategic vacuum. However, after the Six Day War in 1967, Europe started to make a comeback on the Arab scene thanks to General De Gaulle and the so-called “French-Arab policy”. But it was the October War (1973) and the first oil crisis (1973) that triggered the Euro-Arab Dialogue.3 The initiative to kick-start a dialogue between Arabs and Europeans was an Arab initiative, embodied in the Algiers Summit Declaration (28th November 1973) proposing a dialogue to the EEC. The proposal was submitted by four Arab ministers to the European Summit in Copenhagen (10th-14th December 1973) and was welcomed by the Europeans mainly concerned with a stable supply of oil “at reasonable prices”.