Foreign Minister Stubb to attend the Gymnich Meeting of EU Foreign Ministers and the Ministerial Conference of the Union for the Mediterranean in Marseille, France
Press release 413/2008
30 October, 2008
Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb will attend the Informal Meeting of EU Foreign Ministers, the so-called Gymnich meeting, and the Ministerial Conference of the Union for the Mediterranean to be held in Marseille, France on 3–4 November.
The Gymnich meeting on Monday, 3 November will focus on possibilities for development of the European Union’s trans-Atlantic relations. Informal meetings of the EU foreign ministers have been held regularly at six-month intervals since 1974. This informal meeting is the second to be held during the French Presidency of the European Union.
The Ministerial Conference of the Union for the Mediterranean is a high-level annual meeting between the European Union and the Mediterranean countries. The co-chairs of the Ministerial Conference will be Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France and Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit.
This is the first Ministerial Conference to take place following the creation of the “Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean” (Paris Summit for the Mediterranean, 13 July 2008). The intention is for the conference to adopt the work programme for 2009 and to agree on institutional structures for the Union for the Mediterranean.
Open issues pertaining to organisation of the work of the “Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean” will be discussed at the working dinner on Monday, 3 November, which will launch the foreign ministers’ meeting. At the plenary session on Tuesday, 4 November, the foreign ministers will discuss, among other issues, preparation of the partnership’s projects and at the working lunch, the topic of discussion will be political dialogue on the regional and international situation.
The current cooperation is based on the Barcelona Process introduced in 1995. The Barcelona Process was adopted by the Union for the Mediterranean in July 2008, when the “Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean” was created. It comprises a partnership formed by a total of 44 countries and over 700 million people.
Cooperation is built on three pillars: the political, trade and economic and cultural pillars. Activities are supported by a wide-ranging network of non-governmental organisations and institutions, the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA) and, e.g. the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures(ALF). As to economic relations, the main goal is implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean free trade area by the year 2010. The new dimension to the Euro-Mediterranean partnership introduced by the Union for the Mediterranean is the creation of regional development projects increasingly with the support of the private sector and international financial institutions.
Additional information: Deputy European Correspondent Markku Lampinen, mobile tel. +358 40 726 6124 (Gymnich meeting), Ambassador Risto Veltheim, tel. +358 9 1605 6031, Helena Tuuri, Head of the Unit for the Middle East and North Africa, tel. +358 9 1605 6538 (Ministerial Conference of the Union for the Mediterranean) and Tanja Jääskeläinen, Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 5005, mobile tel. +358 40 511 3786