Miliband & Mandelson: The EuroMed Vision

Video: Foreign Secretary David Miliband has suggested the European Union should work towards including Russia, Middle Eastern and North African countries. In his first major speech on the UK’s relationship with Europe, he said the EU would not become a “superpower” but should be a “role model” for the world.

Address by EU Commissioner Peter Mandelson at the First Agadir Investment Forum:
Every effective political relationship has to be driven by a vision: a sense of where you want to go and why it matters. For Europe and the countries of the Southern Mediterranean that vision has always been very strong. We call it the “Barcelona process,” but it is more than just a process. It is a shared history and geography, a shared sense that we are united by our common interests in a changing and globalising world.

President Sarkozy is just the latest in a long line of European leaders who have looked to the Mediterranean with a sense of excitement and hope. There are many different expressions of that, but the idea of a free trade area of the Mediterranean by 2010 has always captured my imagination, just as it has captured the imagination of others.

In the last decade we've made it more than an idea. We have Association Agreements in place that have opened EU markets to your goods. These agreements have made a real difference. They have doubled your trade with the EU over the last decade and cut your trade deficit with the EU by half. They have helped Southern Mediterranean countries create jobs and attract investment. We are slowly pushing forward with liberalising services and making it easier to set up businesses in both directions.

Yet I often sense disappointment from countries of the Southern Mediterranean that the EuroMed process is not producing the gains they expected – or at least not fast enough. This is especially true in terms of foreign direct investment. The conditions look superficially good: being on the EU's doorstep, and having preferential trading conditions with the EU are huge competitive advantages.

But despite their closeness to Europe and their promising growth, the countries of the Southern Mediterranean have attracted only 1% of EU foreign investment since 2000. Investors will go where conditions for business are favourable, where there is certainty for their investments and where there is a market for their goods. They might see potential in the region, just as I do. But we have not yet convinced them in great enough numbers to put their money where their aspirations are. Read the complete speech.