The new “Mediterranean Union” has been hyped by French President Nicholas Sarkozy since his 2007 election campaign. At the same time, the idea has been derided in Ankara and various other capitals across the EU and Muslim Mediterranean.
The impetus behind this Sarkozy project was to let Turkey think that it was actually joining Europe while denying the very large and very Muslim country membership in the European Union. Perhaps of equal importance was the chance to cast France as a “regional power.” Of course, the first meeting of the Mediterranean Union will be in Paris, with Sarkozy playing host.
Until recently Turkey steadfastly opposed the Union. It has agreed to attend the first meeting of the block in Paris, on the condition that Turkey will be recognized as a country “conducting membership negotiations with the EU.”
Why is Turkey reticent to participate in the MU?
This is not difficult to answer. The so-called Mediterranean Union is clearly not a union. It will, of course, never be comparable to the European Union. There is no Copenhagen Criteria for accession to the body. Thus, the salutary effects of the EU accession process are null and void. In fact, it is quite condescending to offer the MU as an alternative to the EU. By naming Hosni Mubarak — the leader of a police state with a controlled economy — vice-chair of the body, Sarkozy shows that the MU has little interest in democratization or liberalization.
So what is its value?
For one, it may boost the importance of France on the world scene, something which is of perennial interest to the French, but to no one else. It will also allow North African and Eastern Mediterranean dictators to feel important. Another worthy cause.
Aside from the nay-saying, there is one very positive development that may arise from the first MU meeting. During his election campaign, Sarkozy made the bombastically claimed that a Mediterranean Union would “end all hatreds to make way for a great dream of peace and a great dream of civilisation. Silly as this idea is, the first MU summit will bring together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad for the first time. While the MU will almost surely not bring about large scale breakthroughs, it may not be a total waste if it promotes dialog among people who would normally have nothing to do with one another.
