Information & Training Seminar for Diplomats

28th September - 5th October, 1996

Papers

Welcome Speech by Prof. Fred Tanner, Director of the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies -

Excellencies, delegates, colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is both an honour and a pleasure to welcome you to the opening of the First Euro-Mediterranean Information and Training Session. We are in the presence here today of about 50 diplomats from a politically defined area stretching from Finland to Jordan and from Morocco to Turkey. The common bond to these different countries is the Barcelona Declaration, that was successfully adopted last November by the European Union together with 12 Mediterranean partner states.

The Barcelona Declaration launched an Euro-Mediterranean Partnership with an ambitious agenda that includes the establishment of a free-trade area, the creation of a common area of peace and stability and the promotion of social, cultural and human affairs.

As in any agreement, the litmus test of commitment and political will is reflected in the implementation process. The next few months will show whether the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership is a paper tiger or whether it is capable of mastering the monumental tasks lying ahead.

We are very proud that the Academy based here in Malta was chosen to make its own modest contribution to the success of the Euro-Med partnership. Our mandate for this meeting is to assist desk officers and other diplomats to efficently deal with the EU within the Euro-Med setting. They are given in the next six days the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the intricacies of the European Union, its bureaucracy and its institutional and decion-making aspects. At the same time, the delegates will be exposed to various interpretations of the Barcelona Process.

In final account, this one-week meeting serves the delegates to get to know each other as they will be working on the same or similar dossiers in their respective capitals. Personal contacts are a first step toward creating a true culture of cooperation in the Euro-Med region.

It is important to note that this meeting is not a single event, but part of a long-term process. The cross-cultural situation in the Mediterranean necessitates to develop shared understandings of the Barcelona commitments. Without shared understandings the building of a partnership appears an impossible task. It is under this premise that the Mediterranean Academy has assumed the responibility to act as a center of information and training for the Euro-Med Community.

This is why the meeting of this week will be followed by another meeting next spring with the objective to bring to Malta high-level officials for preparing the second ministerial meeting of the Barcelona Process.

In the same spirit of long-term cooperation, the Academy will offer to Euro-Med its extensive know-how in Information Technology with the purpose of creating a permanent Information Hub for the Barcelona process. In this context I am proud to announce that this week the founding fathers of the Academy, the Governments of Malta and Switzerland, have come to an agreement to extent their commitments towards the Academy for another three years. This agreement will be instrumental in view of making the Academy a truly Euro-Mediterranean institution. Other countries, such as Italy and Tunisia make their own contributions to the Academy and the next three years should see a broad involvement from other governments and organisations with interst in Mediterranean affairs.

The Euro-Med spirit of cooperation is not a new concept at the Academy. For the last 6 years, a total of more than 100 junior diplomats from most Mediterranean countries have been training here in Malta. We are currently training junior diplomats form 14 Mediterranean countries and beyond. Their stay here in Malta over a period of nine month should help to mold a new generation of diplomats with the necessary skills and the broad understanding of how to effectively deal with obstacles to peaceful interactions in the Mediterranean. I would like to welcome also these junior diplomats to todays opening session.

It is now my privilege to pass the floor to two distinguished speakers, who epitomize the benevolent instituional backing that this meeting receives. H.E. Dr. Giorgio Boggio, Head of the Delegation of the Commission of the European Communities to Malta will make the Introductionary Remarks. He is followed by Mr. Joseph R. Grima, who represents Hon. Dr. Eddie Fenech Adami, Prime Minister of Malta.

TOP