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Euromed Foreign Ministers incoherent on sustainable development in the Euromediterranean Partnership
The Mediterranean Environmental NGO steering group the Comite de Suivi (*) is deeply concerned that Euromed foreign ministers have once again failed to take adequate action on sustainable development in the their recent Ministerial Conference in Luxembourg (May 30-31).
Mediterranean environmental NGOs will be writing to EuroMed Foreign Ministers and the EuroMed Committee for the Barcelona process outlining what practical measures need to be taken to make sustainable development the guiding principle of the EuroMediterranean partnership (EMP). They will urge that the proposed heads of government Euromed 10th anniversary summit to be hosted by Spain in November should formally relaunch the partnership around this principle.
The text of the foreign ministers' final consensus conclusions adopted in Luxembourg merely reflect vague lip service paid to sustainable development in the EMP, rather than genuine commitment for effective action.
Both the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the 10th Anniversary of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and the Draft Euro-Mediterranean Roadmap for Agriculture submitted to ministers failed to explicitly recognise the central role that sustainable development should play in guiding the partnership, in line with the 5th and 6th Conferences of the Euro-Mediterranean Ministers of Foreign Affairs (2002, 2003) which acknowledged sustainable development as a guiding principle of the Euromed partnership.
The ministerial conclusions "underlined the importance of the establishment of a peaceful, secure and stable Euromed region, which is underpinned by sustainable development, rule of law, democracy and human rights".
However, the conclusions then mandate high officials to consider proposing targets and actions for ten areas of activities - to be reviewed by the proposed Euromed heads of government anniversary summit convened by Spain in November. Area two 'sustainable economic development and reform' contains a short seventh sub-paragraph entitled 'environment and sustainability' which states:
" Ministers supported the successful conclusion of the drafting of the Mediterranean Strategy for sustainable development as this will become an important vehicle for mainstreaming sustainable development throughout the partnership."
They also propose the depollution of the Mediterranean by 2020, but fail to relate this idea to the wideranging activities and programmes already conducted under the 22 nation Barcelona convention and managed by the UN Environment Programme's Mediterranean Action Plan.
Yet the Barcelona Convention Contracting Parties, which include the European community and seven member states have within the MAP's Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development advocated the relaunching of the Euromed partnership around the central guiding principle of sustainable development.
Moreover, all EU member states have made commitments both within the EU and the UN to set economic, social and environmental policies within the overarching framework of sustainable development
An additional reason for our concern is the advocacy for accelerated trade liberalisation in industrial and agricultural goods and services, to achieve a full EuroMediterranean Free Trade Area (EMFTA) by 2010. There is no mention of incorporating into this process the recommendations due at the end of 2006 of the Sustainability Impact Assessment of the EMFTA, which the European commission has contracted out to Manchester University
On a separate note, we deplore the lack of formal commitment to achieve all the eight UN Millennium Development Goals within the region by 2015.
Summing up, the dominant theme of the foreign ministers' conclusions is the proposal for more of the same unsustainable development patterns witnessed in the first 10 years of the partnership, with sustainable development tacked on as an afterthought.
Moreover, the final conclusions in no way reflected two appeals issued by Mediterranean NGOs.
The first was an appeal to Euromed foreign ministers issued in April 2005. The second was a letter dated 4 May from the Comite de Suivi Mediterranean NGO network to the President of the European Commission calling on the Commission to revise its proposals on Euromed reform to reflect commitments the EU has already made towards sustainable development in the Mediterranean.
Despite the EC's assurances that all letters from the public will be answered within 15 days, no reply has been received to date.
Contacts:
For further information/interviews contact:
Professor Michael Scoullos, mio-ee-env@forthnet.ath.gr telephone: +30 210 324 7267
Eugene Clancy, Friends of the Earth MEDNET co-ordinator, mednet@foeeurope.org telephone. +34 965 652 932
NOTES for editors:
(*) Members of the Comite de Suivi are: Arab Network for Environment and Development (RAED), Environment and Development Action in the Third World (ENDA), European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Friends of the Earth (FoE/MedNet Programme), Mediterranean NGO Network for Ecology and Sustainable Development (MEDForum), Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE), World Wild Fund Mediterranean Programme (WWF/MEDPO)
1. The conclusions of the 7th conference of EuroMediterranean foreign ministers are at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/euromed/conf/lux/euromed.pdf
2. The Communication on EMP reform is at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/euromed/publication.htm
3. The communication on agricultural trade liberalization has not been posted on the Commission website.
4. The texts of the NGO communications are posted at:
i) Environmental NGO Appeal to Foreign Ministers
http://www.foeeurope.org/mednet/mssd/Appeal_Final_14_april_annex_I.pdf
ii) Comite de Suivi letter to President Barroso
http://www.foeeurope.org/press/2005/EC_04_May_CdS.htm
5. The Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development is being drafted by the Mediterranean Commission for Sustainable Development, an advisory body of the UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan. (http://www.unepmap.gr), The MAP services the Barcelona Convention 1976 and its Protocols. The MCSD is expected to adopt the MSSD at its next meeting, Athens 20-22 June, which will then transmit the text for formal endorsement by the ministerial segment of the 14th Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention, Slovenia 8-11 November 2005.
Seven EU member states (France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia) and the European Community are Contracting Parties, along with 16 south and east Mediterranean states. The Commission represents the European Community.
