The foreign ministers of the EU and the Mediterranean Countries to convene at Tampere
Press release 476/2006
21 November, 2006
The Euro-Mediterranean cooperation process will bring together almost 40 states to the Conference of Foreign Ministers within the framework of Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, i.e. "Barcelona Process", on 27-28 November. The representatives invited to the conference, chaired by Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, include the foreign ministers of the 25 EU member states and the foreign ministers or other representatives of the Mediterranean Partners, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey, as well as the Palestinian Authority. Bulgaria and Romania, soon to become EU members, as well as the EU candidate countries will also attend the conference. To date, almost 30 foreign ministers have confirmed their participation.
The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership is becoming more and more important forum of cooperation, dialogue and association for the EU and the Mediterranean countries. Among the most central questions of current interest for cooperation are the political situation of the region, the new European neighbourhood policy, cross-cultural dialogue, immigration issues, and counter-terrorism activities. Even though the Barcelona Process does not negotiate about the Middle East peace process, it still offers an opportunity to discuss even this topic, among others. The Conference of Foreign Ministers, which meets at 18-month intervals, is the most important institution of the Barcelona Process and it assesses the functioning of the process as a whole. During the plenary session, each member state may address the conference on any of the cooperation issues from the point of view of its choice.
The main goal of the Barcelona Process, launched in 1995, is to make the Mediterranean region into a common zone of peace, security and prosperity. The Euro-Mediterranean cooperation covers a multitude of topics from energy, tourism, environmental protection, and promotion of trade and investments to political cooperation and enhancement of cross-cultural dialogue. The Conference of Foreign Ministers to be held in Tampere is the eight regular foreign minister conference in the process. The previous time the foreign ministers of the Euro-Mediterranean region convened in Luxembourg in May 2005. In addition to the Conference of Foreign Minister, during its presidency Finland has also hosted the meetings of the ministers of industry, ministers responsible for women's and equality affairs, and ministers of the environment of the EuroMed member states.
In connection with the Conference of Foreign Ministers, the leaders of the national networks of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures will also meet in Tampere.
Additional information: Ambassador Risto Veltheim, tel. +358 9 1605 6031, and Attaché Henna Knuuttila, tel. +358 9 1605 6422