Members of the Union for the Mediterranean

  Member states of the European Union

  Other members

                     Observer members

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is a multilateral partnership that encompasses 43 countries from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 27 member states of the European Union and 16 Mediterranean partner countries from North Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans. It was created in July 2008 as a relaunched Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (the Barcelona Process), when a plan to create an autonomous Mediterranean Union was dropped. The Union has the aim of promoting stability and prosperity throughout the Mediterranean region. Nevertheless, its 2009 and 2010 Summits could not be held due to the stalemate of the Arab-Israeli peace process after the Gaza war.

The Union for the Mediterranean introduced new institutions into the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership with the aim of increasing its visibility such as the creation of a Secretariat.

The Union for the Mediterranean is the southern regional cooperation branch of the European Neighbourhood Policy. Its eastern counterpart is the Eastern Partnership.

Membership[link]

Flags of UfM members, located at the Royal Palace of Pedralbes, in Barcelona (UfM headquarters)

The members of the Union of the Mediterranean are the following:

• From the European Union side:
  • the 27 European Union member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.)
  • the European Commission.
• From the side of the Mediterranean Partner countries:
  • Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria (self-suspended on 22 June 2011), Tunisia and Turkey.
  • Libya as an observer state.^[1]
  • the League of Arab States^[2][3]

History[link]

Antecedents: Barcelona Process[link]

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, also known as the Barcelona Process, was created in 1995 as a result of the Conference of Euro-Mediterranean Ministers of Foreign Affairs held in Barcelona under the Spanish presidency of the EU. According to the 1995 Barcelona Declaration, the aim of this initiative is: "turning the Mediterranean basin into an area of dialogue, exchange and cooperation guaranteeing peace, stability and prosperity."^[4]

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership culminates a series of attempts from the European countries to articulate their relations with their North African and Middle Eastern neighbours: the global Mediterranean policy (1972–1992) and the renovated Mediterranean policy (1992–1995).^[5]

Bishara Khader argues that this ambitious European project towards its Mediterranean neighbours has to be understood in a context of optimism. On the one hand, the European Community was undergoing important changes due to the reunification of Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the beginning of the adhesion negotiations of Eastern and Central European countries. On the other, the Arab-Israeli conflict appeared to be getting closer to achieving peace after the Madrid Conference (1991) and the Oslo Accords (1992). As well, Khader states that the Gulf War of 1991, the Algerian crisis (from 1992 onwards) and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism throughout the Arab world are also important factors in Europe’s new relations with the Mediterranean countries based on security concerns.^[6]

At the time of its creation, the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership comprised only 27 member countries: 15 from the European Union and 12 Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey). As a result of the European Union’s enlargements of 2004 and 2007, the number of EU member states grew up to 27, and two of the Mediterranean partner countries — Cyprus and Malta — became part of the European Union. The EU enlargement changed the configuration of the Barcelona Process from "15+12" to "27+10."^[7] Albania and Mauritania joined the Barcelona Process in 2007, raising the number of participants to 39.^[8]

Critiques against the Barcelona Process escalated after the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Euro-Mediterranean Summit in Barcelona in 2005, which was broadly considered a failure.^[9] First, the absence of Heads of State and Government from the Southern Mediterranean countries (with the exception of the Palestinian and Turkish ones) heavily contrasted with the attendance of the 27 European Union’s Heads of State and Government.^[10] Second, the lack of consensus to define the term "terrorism" prevented the endorsement of a final declaration. The Palestinian Authority, Syria and Algeria argued that resistance movements against foreign occupation should not be included in this definition.^[11] Nevertheless, a code of conduct on countering terrorism and a five-year work program were approved at Barcelona summit of 2005.^[12] both of which are still valid under the Union for the Mediterranean.^[13]

For many, the political context surrounding the 2005 summit — the stagnation of the Middle East Peace Process, the US-led war on Iraq, the lack of democratisation in Arab countries, and the war on terror's negative effects on freedoms and human rights, among others — proved for many the inefficiency of the Barcelona Process for fulfilling its objectives of peace, stability and prosperity.^[14] Given these circumstances, even politicians that had been engaged with the Barcelona Process since its very beginnings, like the Spanish politician Josep Borrell, expressed their disappointment about the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and its incapacity to deliver results.^[15] Critiques from Southern Mediterranean countries blamed the Partnership’s failure on Europe's lack of interest towards the Mediterranean in favour of its Eastern neighbourhood;^[16] whereas experts from the North accused Southern countries of only being interested on "their own bi-lateral relationship with the EU" while downplaying multilateral policies.^[15]

However, many European Union diplomats have defended the validity of the Barcelona Process' framework by arguing that the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership was the only forum that gathered Israelis and Arabs on equal footing^[17]), and identifying as successes the Association Agreements, the Code of Conduct on Countering Terrorism and the establishment of the Anna Lindh Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures.^[1]

On 2006 the first proposals for improving the Partnership's efficiency, visibility and co-ownership arouse, such as establishing a co-presidency system and a permanent secretariat or nominating a "Mr./Ms. Med."^[18]

Mediterranean Union[link]

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed the Union during his election campaign.

A proposal to establish a "Mediterranean Union" was part of the election campaign of Nicolas Sarkozy during the French presidential election campaign in 2007. During the campaign Mr. Sarkozy said that the Mediterranean Union would be modelled on the European Union with a shared judicial area and common institutions.^[19] Sarkozy saw Turkish membership of the Mediterranean Union as an alternative to membership of the European Union, which he opposes,^[19] and as a forum for dialogue between Israel and its Arab Neighbours.^[20]

Once elected, President Sarkozy invited all heads of state and government of the Mediterranean region to a meeting in June 2008 in Paris, with a view to laying the basis of a Mediterranean Union.^[21]

The Mediterranean Union was enthusiastically supported by Egypt and Israel.^[22] Turkey strongly opposed the idea and originally refused to attend the Paris conference until it was assured that membership of the Mediterranean Union was not being proposed as an alternative to membership of the EU.^[23]

Among EU member states, the proposal was supported by Italy, Spain,^[24] and Greece.^[25]

However the European Commission and Germany were more cautious about the project. The European Commission saying that while initiatives promoting regional co-operation were good, it would be better to build them upon existing structures, notable among them being the Barcelona process. German chancellor Angela Merkel said the MU risked splitting and threatening the core of the EU. In particular she objected to the potential use of EU funds to fund a project which was only to include a small number of EU member states.^[26] When Slovenia took the EU presidency at the beginning of 2008, the then Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša added to the criticism by saying: "We do not need a duplication of institutions, or institutions that would compete with EU, institutions that would cover part of the EU and part of the neighbourhood."^[27]

Other criticisms of the proposal included concern about the relationship between the proposed MU and the existing Euromediterranean Partnership, which might reduce the effectiveness of EU policies in the region and allow the southern countries to play on the rivalries to escape unpopular EU policies. There were similar economic concerns in the loss of civil society and similar human rights based policies. Duplication of policies from the EU's police and judicial area was a further worry.^[28]

Proposal scaled down[link]

At the start of 2008 Sarkozy began to modify his plans for the Mediterranean Union due to widespread opposition from other EU member states and the European Commission. At the end of February of that year, France's minister for European affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, stated that "there is no Mediterranean Union" but rather a "Union for the Mediterranean" that would only be "completing and enriching" to existing EU structures and policy in the region.^[29] Following a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel it was agreed that the project would include all EU member states, not just those bordering the Mediterranean, and would be built upon the existing Barcelona process. Turkey also agreed to take part in the project following a guarantee from France that it was no longer intended as an alternative to EU membership.^[23]

The proposed creation of common institutions,^[30] and a Mediterranean Investment, which was to have been modelled on the European Investment Bank, was also dropped.^[31]

In consequence the new Union for the Mediterranean would consist of regular meeting of the entire EU with the non-member partner states, and would be backed by two co-presidents and a secretariat.

Union for the Mediterranean launched[link]

At the Paris Summit for the Mediterranean (13 July 2008), the 43 Heads of State and Government from the Euro-Mediterranean region decided to launch the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean. It was presented as a new phase Euro-Mediterranean Partnership with new members and an improved institutional architecture in order to "enhance multilateral relations, increase co-ownership of the process, set governance on the basis of equal footing and translate it into concrete projects, more visible to citizens. Now is the time to inject a new and continuing momentum into the Barcelona Process. More engagement and new catalysts are now needed to translate the objectives of the Barcelona Declaration into tangible results."^[13]

The Paris summit was considered a diplomatic success for Nicolas Sarzoky.^[32] The French president had managed to gather in Paris all the Heads of State and Government from the 43 Euro-Mediterranean countries, with the exception of the kings of Morocco and Jordan. In addition to the high level of attendance, Sarkozy was also able to foster the establishment of diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon.^[33]

At the Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Foreign Affairs held in Marseilles in November 2008, the Ministers decided to shorten the initiative's name to simply the "Union for the Mediterranean".^[3]

Aims and six concrete projects[link]

The fact that the Union for the Mediterranean is launched as a new phase of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership means that the Union accepts and commits to maintain the acquis of Barcelona, the purpose of which is to promote "peace, stability and prosperity" throughout the region (Barcelona, 2). Therefore, the four chapters of cooperation developed in the framework of the Barcelona Process during thirteen years remain valid:^[13]

• Politics and Security
• Economics and Trade
• Socio-cultural
• Justice and Interior Affairs. This fourth chapter was included at the 10th Anniversary Euro-Mediterranean Summit held in Barcelona in 2005.

The objective to establish a Free Trade Area in the Euro-Mediterranean region by 2010 (and beyond), first proposed at the 1995 Barcelona Conference, was also endorsed by the Paris Summit of 2008.^[13]

In addition to these four chapters of cooperation, the 43 Ministers of Foreign Affairs gathered in Marseilles on November 2008 identified six concrete projects that target specific needs of the Euro-Mediterranean regions and that will enhance the visibility of the Partnership:^[34]

• De-pollution of the Mediterranean. This broad project encompasses many initiatives that target good environmental governance, access to drinkable water, water management, pollution reduction and protection of the Mediterranean biodiversity.^[1]

• Maritime and land highways. The purpose of this project is to increase and improve the circulation of commodities and people throughout the Euro-Mediterranean region by improving its ports, and building highways and railways. Specifically, the Paris and Marseilles Declarations refer to the construction of both a Trans-Maghrebi railway and highway systems, connecting Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.^[1]

• Civil protection. The civil protection project aims at improving the prevention, preparedness and response to both natural and man-made disasters. The ultimate goal is to "bring the Mediterranean Partner Countries progressively closer to the European Civil Protection Mechanism.^[35]

• Alternative energies: Mediterranean solar plan. The goal of this project is to promote the production and use of renewable energies. More specifically, it aims at turning the Mediterranean partner countries into producers of solar energy and then circulating the resulting electricity through the Euro-Mediterranean region.^[1] In this connection the union and the industrial initiative Dii signed a Memorandum of Understanding for future collaboration in May 2012 which included developing their long-term strategies “Mediterranean Solar Plan” and “Desert Power 2050”. At the signing in Marrakesh the union's Secretary General called the new partnership "a key step for the implementation of the Mediterranean Solar Plan."^[36]

• Higher education and research: Euro-Mediterranean University. On June 2008 the Euro-Mediterranean University was inaugurated in Piran (Slovenia), which offers graduate studies programs. The Foreign Ministers gathered at Marseilles on 2008 also called for the creation of another Euro-Mediterranean University in Fes, Morocco.^[37] At the Paris summit, the 43 Heads of State and Government agreed that the goal of this project is to promote higher education and scientific research in the Mediterranean, as well as to establish in the future a "Euro-Mediterranean Higher Education, Science and Research Area."^[13]

• The Mediterranean business development initiative. The purpose of the initiative is to promote small and medium-sized enterprises from the Mediterranean partner countries by "assessing the needs of these enterprises, defining policy solutions and providing these entities with resources in the form of technical assistance and financial instruments." ^[13]

Institutions[link]

In contrast with the Barcelona Process, one of the biggest innovations of the Union for the Mediterranean is its institutional architecture. It was decided at the Paris Summit to provide the Union with a whole set of institutions in order to up-grade the political level of its relations, promote a further co-ownership of the initiative among the EU and Mediterranean partner countries and improve the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership’s visibility.^[13][38]

Biennial Summits of Heads of State and Government[link]

A summit of Heads of State and Government are intended to be held every two years to foster political dialogue at the highest level. According to the Paris Declaration:

• these summits should produce a joint declaration addressing the situation and challenges of the Euro-Mediterranean region, assessing the works of the Partnership and approving a two-year work program;^[39]
• Ministers of Foreign Affairs should meet annually to monitor the implementation of the summit declaration and to prepare the agenda of subsequent summits;^[39] and
• the host-country of the summits would be chosen upon consensus and should alternate between EU and Mediterranean countries.^[39]

The first summit was held in Paris in July 2008. The second summit should have taken place in a non-EU country in July 2010 but the Euro-Mediterranean countries agreed to hold the summit in Barcelona on 7 June 2010, under the Spanish presidency of the EU, instead.^[40] However, on 20 May the Egyptian and French co-presidency along with Spain decided to postpone the summit. A move which they described as being intended to give more time to the indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority that had started that month. In contrast the Spanish media blamed the postponement on the Arab threat to boycott the summit if Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended the Foreign Affairs conference prior to the summit.^[41]

After the initial postponement, both France and Spain announced their intention to hold peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority as part of the postponed summit under the auspices of the US. In September U.S. President Barack Obama was invited to the summit for this purpose. The summit which was then scheduled to take place in Barcelona on 21 November 2010,^[42] was according to Nicolas Sarkozy, the summit was "an occasion to support the negotiations."^[43]

Nevertheless, at the beginning of November 2010 the peace talks stalled, and the Egyptian co-presidents conditioned the occurrence of the summit on a gesture from Israel that would allow the negotiations to resume. According to some experts Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement of the construction of 1,300 new settlements in East Jerusalem ended all the possibilities of celebrating the summit on 21 November.^[44] The two co-presidencies and Spain decided on 15 November to postpone the summit sine die, alleging that the stagnation of the Middle East Peace Process would hinder a "satisfactory participation."^[45]

North and South Co-presidency system[link]

With the purpose of guaranteeing the co-ownership of the Union for the Mediterranean, the Heads of State and Government decided in Paris that two countries, one from the EU and one from the Mediterranean partner countries, will jointly preside the Union for the Mediterranean. The 27 agreed that the EU co-presidency had to "be compatible with the external representation of the European Union in accordance with the Treaty provisions in force."^[13] The Mediterranean partner countries decided to choose by consensus and among themselves a country to hold the co-presidency for a non-renewable period of two years."^[13]

At the time of the Paris summit, France — which was in charge of the EU presidency — and Egypt held the co-presidency. Since then, France had been signing agreements with the different rotator presidencies of the EU (the Czech Republic, Sweden and Spain) in order to maintain the co-presidency for two years alongside Egypt.^[1] The renewal of the co-presidency was supposed to happen on the second Union for the Mediterranean Summit. However, due to the two postponements of the summit, there has been no chance to decide which countries will take over the co-presidency. Spain had planned to replace France as the EU co-presidency of the Union for the Mediterranean. However, Belgium — the country presiding the EU for the second semester of 2010 — has opposed the Spanish aspirations.

Secretariat[link]

The former Royal Palace of Pedralbes (Barcelona), headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean

The task of the permanent Secretariat is to identify and monitor the implementation of concrete projects for the Euro-Mediterranean region, and to search for partners to finance these projects.^[46]

The Euro-Mediterranean Ministers of Foreign Affairs decided at the Marseilles conference of November 2008 that the headquarters of the Secretariat would be in at the Royal Palace of Pedralbes in Barcelona.^[47] They also agreed on the structure of this new key institution and the countries of origin of its first members:

• The Secretary General is elected upon consensus from a non-EU country. His term is for three years, which may be extended for other three.^[46] The first Secretary General was the Jordanian Ahmad Khalaf Masa'deh, the former Ambassador of Jordan to the EU, Belgium, Norway and Luxembourg, and Minister of Public Sector Reform from 2004–2005.^[48] He resigned after one year in office.^[49]

• In order to enhance the co-ownership of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, six posts of Deputy Secretaries General have been assigned to three countries from the EU and three countries from the Mediterranean partner countries. For the first term of three years (extendible to other three) the Deputy Secretaries General are:^[50]
  • Panagiotis Roumeliotis (Greece), in charge of energy issues, including renewable energies.
  • Ilan Chet (Israel), responsible for the higher education and scientific research portfolio.
  • Lino Cardarelli (Italy) in charge of the economic portfolio.
  • Cecilia Attard-Pirotta (Malta), social and civil affairs.
  • Rafiq al Husseini (Palestinian Authority), in charge of water and environmental issues.
  • Mehmet Yigit Alpogan (Turkey), responsible for the transport portfolio.

The Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean was inaugurated on March 2010 in an official ceremony in Barcelona.^[51]

Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly[link]

The Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) is not a new institution inside the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership framework. It was established in Naples on 3 December 2003 by the Euro-Mediterranean Ministers of Foreign Affairs and had its first plenary session in Athens on 22–23 March 2004. The EMPA gathers parliamentarians from the Euro-Mediterranean countries and has four permanent committees on the following issues:^[52]

• Political Affairs, Security and Human Rights
• Economic, Financial and Social Affairs and Education
• Promotion of the Quality of Life, Human Exchanges and Culture
• Women's Rights in the Euro-Mediterranean Countries

The EMPA also has an ad hoc committee on Energy and Environment. Since the launch of the Union for the Mediterranean, the EMPA’s role has been strengthened for it is considered the "legitimate parliamentary expression of the Union".^[13]

Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly[link]

At the Euro-Mediterranean Foreign Affairs Conference held in Marseilles on November 2008, the Ministers welcomed the EU Committee of the Regions proposal to establish a Euro-Mediterranean Assembly of Local and Regional Authorities (ARLEM in French). Its aim is to bridge between the local and regional representatives of the 43 countries with the Union for the Mediterranean and EU institutions.^[53]

The EU participants are the members of the EU Committee of the Regions, as well as representatives from other EU institutions engaged with the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. From the Mediterranean partner countries, the participants are representatives of regional and local authorities appointed by their national governments. The ARLEM was formally established and held its first plenary session in Barcelona on 31 January 2010. The ARLEM's co-presidency is held by the President of the EU Committee of the Regions, Luc Van den Brande, and the Moroccan mayor of Al Hoceima, Mohammed Boudra.^[54]

Anna Lindh Foundation[link]

The Anna Lindh Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures, with headquarters are in Alexandria, Egypt, was established in April 2005. It is a network for the civil society organisations of the Euro-Mediterranean countries, aiming at the promotion of intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding.^[55]

At the Paris Summit it was agreed that the Anna Lindh Foundation, along with the UN Alliance of Civilizations will be in charge of the cultural dimension of the Union for the Mediterranean.^[13]

In September 2010 the Anna Lindh Foundation published a report called "EuroMed Intercultural Trends 2010."^[56] This evaluation about mutual perceptions and the visibility of the Union of the Mediterranean across the region is based on a Gallup Public Opinion Survey in which 13,000 people from the Union of the Mediterranean countries participated.

Funding[link]

The Paris Declaration states that contributions for the Union for the Mediterranean will have to develop the capacity to attract funding from "the private sector participation; contributions from the EU budget and all partners; contributions from other countries, international financial institutions and regional entities; the Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership Facility (FEMIP); the ENPI", among other possible instruments,^[13]

• The European Commission contributes to the Union for the Mediterranean through the European Neighbourhood Policy Instrument (ENPI). In July 2009 the ENPI allocated €72 million for the following Union for the Mediterranean projects during 2009–2010:^[57]
  • De-pollution of the Mediterranean (€22 million).
  • Maritime and land highways (€7.5 million).
  • Alternative energies: Mediterranean Solar Plan (€5 million).
  • Euro-Mediterranean University of Slovenia (€1 million)

• The European Investment Bank contributes to the Union for the Mediterranean through its Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP). Specifically, the FEMIP was mandated by the Euro-Mediterranean Ministers of Finance on 2008 to support three of the six concrete projects: the de-pollution of the Mediterranean; alternative energies; and maritime and land highways.^[58]

• The InfraMed Infrastructure Fund was established in June 2010 by five financial entities: the French Caisse des Dépôts, the Moroccan Caisse de Dépôts et de Gestion, the Egyptian EFG Hermes, the Italian Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and the European Investment Bank. On an initial phase, the Fund will contribute €385 million to the Secretariat's projects on infrastructure.^[59]

• The World Bank has allocated $750 million for the renewable energy project through the Clean Technology Fund.^[1]

Impact of conflicts between member countries[link]

Among the 43 member countries of the Union for the Mediterranean, there are three unresolved conflicts that hinder the works of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership: the Arab-Israeli, Cyprus-Turkish and Western Sahara (which, unlike the Palestinian Authority, is not part of the Union for the Mediterranean.)^[60] The European Union Ambassador to Morocco, Eneko Landaburu, stated on September 2010 that he does "not believe" in the Union for the Mediterranean. According to him, the division among the Arabs "does not allow to implement a strong inter-regional policy", and calls to leave this ambitious project of 43 countries behind and focus on bilateral relations.^[61]

The fact that all the decisions, from the lowest to the highest level, in the Union for the Mediterranean are taken "by the principle of consensus"^[13] facilitates the blockage of the Partnership’s work every time tensions rise between the countries involved in these conflicts.^[62]

Due to its seriousness, the Arab-Israeli conflict is the one that most deeply affects the Union for the Mediterranean.^[62] As a result of Israel's operation against the Hamas regime in Gaza Strip at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, the Arab Group refused to meet at high level, thus blocking all the ministerial meetings scheduled for the first half of 2009.^[63] As well, the refusal of the Arab Ministers of Foreign Affairs to meet with their Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, resulted in the cancellation of two ministerial meetings on Foreign Affairs on November 2009 and June 2010.^[64] Sectorial meetings of the Union for the Mediterranean have also been affected by Arab attempts to push forward an anti-Israel ideology. At the Euro-Mediterranean ministerial meeting on Water, held in Barcelona on April 2010, the Water Strategy was not approved due to a terminological disagreement of whether to refer to territories claimed by Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese as "occupied territories" or "territories under occupation."^[65] Two other ministerial meetings, on higher education and agriculture, had to be cancelled because of the same discrepancy.^[66]

The conflict between Turkey and Cyprus has been responsible for the delay in the endorsement of the statutes of the Secretariat,^[67] which were only approved in March 2010 even though the Marseille declaration set May 2009 as the deadline for the Secretariat to start functioning.^[68] At the Paris summit, the Heads of State and Government agreed to establish five Deputy Secretaries General from Greece, Israel, Italy, Malta and the Palestinian Authority. Turkey's desire to have a Deputy Secretary General and Cyprus' rejection of it, resulted in months of negotiation until Cyprus finally approved the creation of a sixth Deputy Secreaty General post assigned to a Turkish citizen.^[67]

Western Sahara is a source of conflict between Algeria and Morocco. The lack of diplomatic relations among these two countries, along with the unresolved dispute over the sovereignty of Western Sahara, prevent the implementation of any intra-Maghreb projects,^[69] such as the railway and highway initiatives, as the stagnation of the Arab Maghreb Union proves.^[70]

List of Sectorial Ministerial meetings[link]

• Economic-Financial Meeting, 7 October 2008, Luxembourg. Conclusions.
• Industry, 5–6 November 2008, Nice (France). Conclusions.
• Employment and Labor, 9–10 November 2008, Marrakech (Morocco). Conclusions.
• Health, 11 November 2008, Cairo (Egypt). Conslusions.
• Water, 22 December 2008, Amman (Jordan). Conclusions.
• Sustainable Development, 25 June 2009, Paris (France). Conclusions.
• Economic-Financial Meeting, 7 July 2009, Brussels (Belgium). Conslusions.
• Strengthening the Role of Women in Society, 11–12 November, Marrakech (Morocco). Conclusions.
• Trade, 9 December 2009, Brussels (Belgium). Conclusions.
• Water, 21–22 April 2010, Barcelona (Spain).
• Tourism, 20 May 2010, Barcelona (Spain).

See also[link]

• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
• Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
• Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Union for the Mediterranean

• Union for the Mediterranean - Official Website

v t e Union for the Mediterranean Member states Albania Algeria3 Austria1 Belgium1 Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria1 Croatia2 Cyprus1 Czech Republic1 Denmark1 Egypt3 Estonia1 Finland1 France1 Germany1 Greece1 Hungary1 Ireland1 Israel Italy1 Jordan3 Latvia1 Lebanon3 Libya3,4 Lithuania1 Luxembourg1 Malta1 Mauritania3 Monaco Montenegro Morocco3 Netherlands1 Palestinian Authority3 Poland1 Portugal1 Romania1 Slovakia1 Slovenia1 Spain1 Sweden1 Syria3 Tunisia3 Turkey2 United Kingdom1 See also Euromediterranean Partnership Euromed FTA Bold: countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea Italic: countries with overseas territory bordering the sea 1 EU member 2 EU candidate 3 Arab League member 4 Observer member

Nigel Farage MEP
Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 November 2010
Preceded by	Jeffrey Titford
In office 27 September 2006 – 27 November 2009
Preceded by	Roger Knapman
Succeeded by	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Member of the European Parliament for South East England
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 July 1999
Personal details
Born	(1964-04-03) 3 April 1964 (age 48) Kent, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	UK Independence Party
Spouse(s)	Gráinne Hayes (1988-1997, divorced) Kirsten Mehr (1999-present)
Children	4
Alma mater	Dulwich College
Religion	Church of England
Website	Nigel Farage MEP

Nigel Paul Farage ( /ˈfærɑːʒ/, FARR-ahzh;^[1] born 3 April 1964, Farnborough, Kent), is a British politician and is the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP),^[2] a position he also held from September 2006 to November 2009. He is a Member of the European Parliament for South East England and co-chairs the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group.

Farage is a founding member of the UKIP, having left the Conservative Party in 1992 after they signed the Maastricht Treaty. Having unsuccessfully campaigned in European and Westminster parliamentary elections for UKIP since 1994, he gained a seat as an MEP for South East England in the 1999 European Parliament Election — the first year the regional list system was used — and was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage describes himself as a libertarian and rejects the notion that he is a conservative.

In September 2006, Farage became the UKIP Leader and led the party through the 2009 European Parliament Election in which it received the second highest share of the popular vote, defeating Labour and the Liberal Democrats with over two million votes. However he stepped down in November 2009 to concentrate on contesting the Speaker John Bercow's seat of Buckingham in the 2010 general election.

At the 2010 General Election, Farage failed to unseat John Bercow and received only the third highest share of the vote in the constituency. Shortly after the polls opened on 6 May 2010, Nigel Farage was injured in an aircraft crash in Northamptonshire. The two-seated PZL-104 Wilga 35A had been towing a pro-UKIP banner when it flipped over and crashed shortly after takeoff. Both Farage and the pilot were hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries.^[3]

In November 2010, Farage successfully stood in the 2010 UKIP leadership contest,^[4] following the resignation of its leader, Lord Pearson of Rannoch. Farage was also ranked 41st (out of 100) in The Daily Telegraph's Top 100 most influential right-wingers poll in October 2009, citing his media savvy and his success with UKIP in the European Elections.^[5] Farage was ranked 58th in the 2010 list compiled by Iain Dale and Brian Brivati for the Daily Telegraph.

Background[link]

Farage was educated at Dulwich College before joining a commodity brokerage firm in London. He ran his own brokerage business from the early 1990s until 2002. In his early 20s Farage was diagnosed with testicular cancer but made a full recovery.^[6]

Farage has been married twice. He married Gráinne Hayes in 1988, with whom he had two children: Samuel (1989) and Thomas (1991). In 1999 he married Kirsten Mehr, a German national, by whom he has two more children, Victoria (born 2000) and Isabelle (born 2005).^[7]

Farage has also penned his own memoirs, entitled "Fighting Bull." It outlines the founding of UKIP and his personal and political life so far.

Political career[link]

Conservative Party[link]

Active in the Conservative Party from his school days, Farage left the party in 1992 when John Major's government signed the Treaty on European Union at Maastricht.

UKIP and the European Parliament[link]

Farage became a founding member of UKIP in 1993.

He was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage is presently the leader of the thirteen-member UKIP contingent in the European Parliament, and co-leader of the multinational eurosceptic group, Europe of Freedom and Democracy.

UKIP party leadership[link]

On 12 September 2006, Farage was elected leader of UKIP with 45% of the vote, 20% ahead of his nearest rival.^[8] He pledged to bring discipline to the party and to maximise UKIP's representation in local, parliamentary and other elections.^{[citation needed]} In a PM programme interview on BBC Radio 4 that day he pledged to end the public perception of UKIP as a single-issue party and to work with allied politicians in the Better Off Out campaign, committing himself not to stand against the MPs who have signed up to that campaign (ten in all at this moment).

At his maiden speech to the UKIP conference on 8 October 2006, he told delegates that the party was "at the centre-ground of British public opinion" and the "real voice of opposition". Farage said: "We've got three social democratic parties in Britain — Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative are virtually indistinguishable from each other on nearly all the main issues" and "you can't put a cigarette paper between them and that is why there are nine million people who don't vote now in general elections that did back in 1992."^[9]

At 10pm on 19 October 2006, Farage took part in a three-hour live interview and phone-in with James Whale on national radio station talkSPORT. Four days later, Whale announced on his show his intention to stand as UKIP's candidate in the 2008 London Mayoral Election. Farage said that Whale "not only has guts, but an understanding of what real people think". However Whale later decided not to stand and UKIP was represented by Gerard Batten.^[10] He stood again for UKIP leadership in 2010 after his successor Lord Pearson stood down.^[4] On the 5th November 2010 it was announced Farage had won the leadership contest.^[11]

Westminster elections[link]

Farage had unsuccessfully contested UK parliamentary elections for UKIP five times, both before and after his election as an MEP in 1999. Under the 2002 European Union decision to forbid MEPs from holding a dual mandate, if he was ever elected to the House of Commons, he would have to resign his seat as an MEP.

When he contested the Bromley & Chislehurst constituency in a May 2006 by-election, organised after the sitting MP representing it, eurosceptic Conservative Eric Forth, died, Farage came third, winning 8% of the vote, beating the Labour Party candidate. This was the second-best by-election result recorded by UKIP out of 25 results, and the first time since the Liverpool Walton by-election in 1991 that a party in government had been pushed into fourth place in a parliamentary by-election on mainland Britain.

2010 UK General election[link]

On 4 September 2009 Farage resigned as leader of UKIP to concentrate on his campaign to become Member of Parliament for Buckingham at Westminster in the 2010 general election.^[12] He later told Times journalist Camilla Long that UKIP internal fights took up too much time.^[13]

He stood against Buckingham MP John Bercow, the newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons, despite a convention that the speaker, as a political neutral, is not normally challenged in his or her bid for re-election by any of the major parties.^[14]

On 6 May, on the morning the polls opened in the election, just before eight o'clock Farage was involved in a light aircraft crash, suffering injuries described as non-life-threatening. A spokesperson told the BBC that "it was unlikely Mr Farage would be discharged from hospital today [6 May]^[15] Although his injuries were originally described as minor, his sternum and ribs were broken, and his lung punctured.^[16] The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said that the aeroplane was towing a banner, which caught in the tailplane, forcing the nose down.^[17]

Farage came third with 8,401 votes. Bercow was re-elected, and in second place with 10,331 votes was John Stevens, a former Conservative MEP who campaigned as an independent accompanied by "Flipper the Dolphin" (a reference to MPs flipping second homes).^[18]

On 1 December 2010, the pilot of the aircraft involved in the accident was charged with threatening to kill Farage. He was also charged with threatening to kill an AAIB official involved in the investigation into the accident.^[19] In April 2011, Justin Adams was found guilty of making death threats. The judge said the defendant was "clearly extremely disturbed" at the time the offences happened adding "He is a man who does need help. If I can find a way of giving him help I will."^[20]

Alternative Vote referendum, May 2011[link]

Farage declared himself personally in favour of the Alternative Vote system of May 2011, saying first-past-the-post is a "nightmare" for UKIP. However, the party's stance has to be decided by its central policy making committee.^[21]

May 2012 London Mayor & Local elections[link]

In a "bizarre cock-up," UKIP forgot to put their party name on their candidate's ballot paper for the London mayoral election, 2012^[22], Laurence Webb appearing as "A fresh choice for London." Farage admitted the mistake describing it as an internal error.^[22]
Interviewed by the following Sunday by Andrew Neil and asked about "the game plan", Farage welcomed the "average 13% vote" across the country, and stated that the party was preparing for County council in 2013, European elections in 2014 and a general election in 2015.^[23] The party was no longer just a protest vote, it would have a full manifesto with policies including selective schools, help to small businesses by "getting rid of excessive labour practices" and an energy policy not based on wind turbines.^[23] UKIP was here to stay ..frankly the Tory Eurosceptics were in the wrong party and would be better off joining UKIP. Asked what would happen to UKIP if the Tories made a Manifesto commitment to a European referendum, Farage said they had already failed to honour a "cast iron" commitment for a referendum on the Lisbon treaty.^[23]

Challenging Farange's viewpoint, Neil said UKIP aspired to come top of the European elections but whilst UKIP wanted to join the big time, they were still seen as "unprofessional, amateur and even unacceptable" after their press officer called Baroness Warsi "a bitch".^[23] Farage regretted "the wrong choice of words" but further described Warsi as "the lowest grade chairman the Tory party has ever had."^[23] Neil then mocked the so called internal error which had made Farage "a joke".^[23] "The blunt truth is" UKIP "didn't win any more seats, the performance in London was terrible and they were still a one man band."^[23] Farage conceded London was a failure but they had won council seats elsewhere. He invited Tories who couldn't stand Cameron to help him.^[23]

Controversies and whistleblowing[link]

Copyright infringement[link]

In 1999 the BBC spent four months filming a documentary about his European elections campaign but didn't show it. Farage, then head of UKIP's South East office, asked for a video and got friends to make illegal copies which were sold for £5 through the UKIP magazine. Surrey Trading Standards investigated and Farage has admitted the offence.^[24]

Expenses disclosure[link]

In May 2009, The Guardian reported that Farage had said in a speech to the Foreign Press Association that over ten years as a member of the European Parliament he received £2 million of taxpayers' money in staff, travel, and other expenses on top of his £64,000 a year salary.^[25]

The former Europe Minister, Denis MacShane, said that this showed that Farage was "happy to line his pockets with gold". Farage called this a "misrepresentation",^[26] pointing out that the money had been used to promote UKIP's message and staff salaries, not his own salary, but he welcomed the focus on the issue of MEP expenses, claiming that "[o]ver a five year term each and every one of Britain's 78 MEPs gets about £1 million. It is used to employ administrative staff, run their offices and to travel back and forth between their home, Brussels and Strasbourg."^[27]

Jacques Barrot[link]

On 18 November 2004, Farage announced in the European Parliament that Jacques Barrot, the French Commissioner designate, had been barred from elected office in France for 2 years, after being convicted in 2000 of embezzling £2 million from government funds and diverting it into the coffers of his party. He claimed that French President Jacques Chirac had granted Barrot amnesty. Although initial BBC reports claimed that, under French law, it was illegal even to mention the conviction,^[28] the prohibition in question only applies to French officials in the course of their duties.^[29] The president of the Parliament, Josep Borrell, enjoined him to retract his comments under threat of "legal consequences".^[30] However, the following day it was confirmed that Barrot had received an 8 month suspended jail sentence in the case, and that this had been quickly expunged by the amnesty decided by Chirac and his parliamentary majority. The Commission's president, Jose Manuel Barroso admitted that he had not known of Barrot's criminal record when appointing him as a Commission vice-president.^{[citation needed]} The Socialist and Liberal groups in the European Parliament then joined UKIP in demanding the resignation of Barrot for failing to disclose the conviction during his confirmation hearings.

José Manuel Barroso[link]

During the spring of 2005, Farage requested that the European Commission disclose where the individual Commissioners had spent their holidays. The Commission did not provide the information requested, on the basis that the Commissioners had a right of privacy. The German newspaper Die Welt reported that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaire Spiro Latsis. It emerged soon afterwards that this had occurred a month before the Commission under Barroso's predecessor Romano Prodi approved 10.3 million euro of Greek state aid for Latsis' shipping company.^[31] It also became known that Peter Mandelson, then a member of the Commission, had accepted a trip to Jamaica from an unrevealed source.

Farage persuaded around 75 MEPs from across the political divide to back a motion of no confidence in Barroso, which would be sufficient to compel Barroso to appear before the European Parliament to be questioned on the issue.^[32] The motion was successfully tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament^[33] at a debate on 26 May 2005. The motion was heavily defeated. A Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer, was expelled from his group, the European People's Party - European Democrats (EPP-ED) in the middle of the debate by that group's leader Hans-Gert Poettering as a result of his support for Farage's motion.

Joseph Daul[link]

In January 2007, the French farmers' leader Joseph Daul was elected the new leader of the European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED), the European Parliamentary grouping which then included the British Conservatives. The UK Independence Party almost immediately revealed that Daul had been under judicial investigation in France since 2004 as part of an inquiry into the alleged misuse of public funds worth €16 million (£10.6 million) by French farming unions."^[34] It was not suggested that Daul had personally benefited, but was accused of "complicity and concealment of the abuse of public funds." Daul accused Farage of publicising the investigation for political reasons and threatened to sue Farage, but did not do so though the court dropped all charges against him.

Prince Charles[link]

Prince Charles gave a speech to the European Parliament on 14 February 2008, in which he called for EU leadership in the war against climate change. During the standing ovation that followed, Farage was the only MEP to remain seated and went on to describe the Prince's advisers as "naïve and foolish at best."^[35] Farage continued: "How can somebody like Prince Charles be allowed to come to the European Parliament at this time to announce he thinks it should have more powers? It would have been better for the country he wants to rule one day if he had stayed home and tried to persuade Gordon Brown to give the people the promised referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon." The leader of the UK Labour Party's MEPs, Gary Titley, accused Farage of anti-Royalism. Titley said: "I was embarrassed and disgusted when the Leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage, remained firmly seated during the lengthy standing ovation Prince Charles received. I had not realised Mr Farage's blind adherence to right wing politics involved disloyalty and discourtesy to the Royal Family. He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself and should apologise to the British people he represents."^[35]

Herman Van Rompuy[link]

After the speech of Herman Van Rompuy on 24 February 2010 in the European parliament, Farage—to protests from other MEPs—addressed the first long-term President of the European Council saying that he has the "charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of low grade bank clerk".^[36] Farage questioned the legitimacy of Van Rompuy's appointment asking "Who are you? I'd never heard of you, nobody in Europe had ever heard of you", he also asserted that Van Rompuy's "intention is to be the quiet assassin of European democracy and of European nation states."^[36] In the same speech he also referred to Belgium, the home of Van Rompuy, as "pretty much a non-country".^[37] Van Rompuy commented afterwards, "There was one contribution that I can only hold in contempt, but I'm not going to comment further."^[36] After refusing to apologise for behaviour that was, in the words of the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, "inappropriate, unparliamentary and insulting to the dignity of the House", Farage was reprimanded and had his right to ten days' allowance (expenses) rescinded.^{[38] [39]}

The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said after his meeting with Farage:

I defend absolutely Mr Farage's right to disagree about the policy or institutions of the Union, but not to personally insult our guests in the European Parliament or the country from which they may come. [. . .] I myself fought for free speech as the absolute cornerstone of a democratic society. But with freedom comes responsibility - in this case, to respect the dignity of others and of our institutions. I am disappointed by Mr Farage's behaviour, which sits ill with the great parliamentary tradition of his own country. I cannot accept this sort of behaviour in the European Parliament. I invited him to apologise, but he declined to do so. I have therefore - as an expression of the seriousness of the matter - rescinded his right to ten days' daily allowance as a Member.^[39]

Questioned by Camilla Long, Farage declared of his speech "it wasn't abusive, it was right."^[13]

European economic governance[link]

He spoke of the EU being "German-dominated" in a speech at the European-Parliament on 18 November 2011.^[40]

Views on the euro[link]

From taking office as a UKIP MEP in 1999, Farage has often voiced opposition to the "euro project". His argument is that "a one size fits all interest rate" cannot work for countries with structurally different economies, often using the example of Greece and Germany to emphasise contrast. He predicted the need for 'bailouts' before European Commission and European Central Bank officials admitted that these steps would be necessary. Specifically, Farage predicted that Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain would all require such assistance. To date, Spain is the only predicted country that has not asked for a 'bailout'. Although Spain and Italy have both had indirect assistance from the ECB, whereby secondary government bonds are bought by the central bank, they are prohibited from purchasing new bonds. Farage warns: "You can ignore the markets if you want to, but in time the markets will not ignore you". Farage also reinforces Germany's argument that Italy "should never have joined the euro".

Farage predicts that if the situation continues it will lead to violence due to the people's inability to "determine their own futures through the ballot box" as it will become the only "logical" tool to enable them to escape from their "economic prison" i.e. the Eurozone. He proclaims "I can only hope and pray that the euro project is destroyed by the markets before that really happens."

Farage strongly opposes the use of 'bailouts' and claims that "buying your own debt with tax payers money" will not solve the problem and that, "if we do, the next debt crisis won't be a country", "it will be the European Central Bank itself".^[41][42]

Electoral performance[link]

Nigel Farage has contested several elections under the United Kingdom Independence Party banner:

• Itchen, Test and Avon, European Parliament Election 1994 - 12,423 votes, representing 5.2% of total votes cast
• Eastleigh by-election, 1994 - 952, 1.4%
• Salisbury, 1997 general election - 3,332, 5.7%
• European Parliament election, 1999 - elected member for South East England from party list
• Bexhill and Battle, 2001 general election - 3,474, 7.8%
• European Parliament election, 2004 - elected member for South East England from party list
• South Thanet, 2005 general election - 2,079, 5.0%
• Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006 - 2,307, 8.0%
• European Parliament election, 2009 - elected member for South East England from party list.
• Buckingham, 2010 general election - 8,410, 17.4%

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• 2002 Amnesty law
• Penal Code, articles L133-9, L133-10, L133-11

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nigel Farage

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Nigel Farage

• Nigel Farage MEP Official website
• Nigel Farage on Twitter
• Nigel Farage Profile at European Parliament website
• UKIP MEPs Official website of the UK Independence Party in the European Parliament
• Europe of Freedom and Democracy Political group in the European Parliament