Confidence-building in the Mediterranean
The
22nd Euro-Mediterranean Information and Training meeting, or Malta
Seminar, as it has become known, was opened on Friday at the Westin
Dragonara Resort by Foreign Minister Michael Frendo,
who highlighted the numerous issues that need to be addressed so that
the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership is strengthened in future.
Dr Frendo began his address by
stipulating that Malta's foreign policy priority of promoting a more
enhanced structured dialogue between the European Union and the Arab
League is essential if closer Euro-Mediterranean relations are to be
realised.
Dr Frendo indicated that Malta
believes that the time has come to focus more Euro-Mediterranean energy
on delivering practical co-operation in areas where such measures are
urgently required. This includes co-operative measures in the field of
management of migration control, environment control and also economic
development.
The minister stated that preparatory discussions ahead of the
ministerial meeting, scheduled to take place during the Portuguese
Presidency later this year, that will focus on legal and illegal
migration and migration and development, should concentrate on
identifying practical measures that can be introduced in the short term
to start addressing this phenomenon in a more concerted manner.
The success of co-ordinating Euro-Mediterranean relations will be
determined by the extent to which interaction between the two banks of
the Mediterranean contributes to an improvement in the standard of
living of all peoples. A more integrated engagement should focus on
immediately enhancing Euro-Arab R&D in the field of innovation,
especially when it comes to renewable and alternative energy.
Malta initiative
EuroMedITI (the Euro-Mediterranean Initiative for Technology and
Innovation) is an initiative launched by Malta early this year and is
already opening up partnerships between research, business and
governmental sectors supporting innovation policies. Water and
environment technologies, sustainable energy technologies, marine
technologies, and Information and Communication technologies are the
main areas of co-operation being focused on.
EuroMedITI aims to develop and empower an outstanding technology and
innovation platform in the Mediterranean markets for business-driven
services in training, applied research and development, testing and
prototyping, incubation, and dissemination in the region. This will
appeal directly to industries searching for a location to execute
applied research and development under favourable conditions, and a hub
to access the emerging Mediterranean market of approximately 400
million people.
Dr Frendo also stipulated that
an enhanced Euro-Mediterranean dialogue needs to focus much more
seriously on climate policy. This should include the development of a
tsunami early warning system.
Strengthening such practical policy dialogue mechanisms will add
momentum to the Euro-Med Partnership Five Year Work Programme that is
currently being implemented and which seeks to integrate the
Mediterranean partner countries closer into the fabric of European
society.
The Five Year Euro-Med Work Programme (2006-2010) also calls for the
"launching of a substantial scholarships scheme for university students
from Euro-Mediterranean partner countries and increase mobility grants
for higher education staff".
Dr Frendo reiterated that the
educational field is a sector where much more needs to be done. The
European Commission together with its member states needs to trigger
both public and private stakeholders to work hand in hand with a
long-term perspective to attract a larger number of Arab students to
their shores. This will of course require an updating of procedures for
a visa facilitation mechanism, making them more user friendly for such
a category of professionals.
Future Euro-Med programmes need to ensure that people-to-people
interaction is at the forefront, especially young people. It is
essential that a much larger number of students from the Arab world are
given the opportunity to study at EU universities. The Bologna Process
must be made functional to them. The same goes for joint EU-Arab
research projects. The EU must introduce a package of programmes that
seeks to tap into the wealth of intelligence in the Euro-Med region via
scholarships, seminars, and other initiatives. The Euro-Med Education
ministerial meeting to be held in Cairo in June should serve as a
catalyst in this regard.
Dr Frendo stated that when it
comes to diplomatic training, Malta has already established itself as a
regional centre of excellence in the Mediterranean through its
educational and training institution, the Mediterranean Academy of
Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC) where over 400 graduates have been trained
in the last 17 years.
Since 1996, MEDAC, together with the European Commission and the
Maltese Foreign Ministry, has also been responsible for co-ordinating
the Euro-Mediterranean Information and Training Seminars, which are an
official confidence-building mechanism of the Barcelona Process, where
more than 600 diplomats have had the opportunity to interact.
[Confidence-building in the Mediterranean - Address of Maltese Foreign Minister Dr. Michael Frendo at XXII EMS covered in The Sunday Times of Malta]
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