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As the French President said in his opening speech at the summit, this initiative in cooperation established jointly by the northern and southern Mediterranean nations is aimed at achieving a common objective: "that peace and stability reign in the Mediterranean." This implies the need to consolidate the achievements of the Barcelona Process, launched in 1995 between the European Union and the Southern Mediterranean countries, and to go still further.

"The whole world has its eyes on you," Nicolas Sarkozy told the leaders present. The French President, who co-presided the summit with his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, welcomed "all the Arab nations" that have joined the Union for the Mediterranean and which, he said had made "a step toward achieving peace."

Nicolas Sarkozy said that he hoped to "write our common history together, with North and South on an equal footing." Hosni Mubarak said that the "new phase" launched by the Union for the Mediterranean would be "the phase of peace in the Near East."

At the end of the plenary session, the Presidents and Prime Ministers adopted a joint declaration, around ten pages long, which marks the founding of the Union for the Mediterranean.

The will to bring peace to the Mediterranean

On the fringes of this solemn event, moves toward a rapprochement were made between Syria and Israel, which have theoretically been at war since 1948. Following an impasse that has lasted eight years, indirect negotiations have been resumed between the two countries with Turkey, which actively supports the project of the Union for the Mediterranean, acting as mediator. Syrian President, Bachar Al Assad, announced that "the next step will involve establishing normal relations" with Israel. Progress in diplomatic matters was also evident between Syria and Lebanon, and between Israel and Palestine which "have never been so close to reaching a peace agreement,” according to Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert. Finally, Nicolas Sarkozy asked Syria to "convince Iran" to provide "proof" that it is not seeking to develop a nuclear weapons program.

Union set-up

The aim of the Union for the Mediterranean is to reach a stable balance of power between northern and southern European nations based on their shared interests. This does not imply integration, but rather cooperation operating through the bodies set up :

  co-Presidency held between northern and south nations;
  a permanent secretariat including officials from both North and South;
  a committee of permanent representatives of all the member nations, whose decisions must be approved equally by northern and southern nations.

This cooperation structure will provide new foundations for effective co-development, as well as the conditions required for peace, democracy and respect for human rights.

Concrete political objectives

Concrete political objectives have been set :

  to clean up pollution in the Mediterranean Sea;
  to develop sea motorways to ease congestion on the roads;
  to establish a Mediterranean Solar Plan, aimed at importing solar energy from the southern Mediterranean nations;
  to develop stronger civil cooperation, especially in the event of a natural disaster.