Turkey, reassured on EU, backs 'Club Med' plan

The Mediterranean Union is a pet project of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a strong opponent of Turkey's EU bid, but he has had to water down the original plan under pressure from Germany and other member states that felt it was too divisive. Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday they had reached a compromise on the proposal, but gave few details.

"We have no problem with the Mediterranean Union. After all, Turkey is the country with the longest Mediterranean coastline. so we will of course look warmly on new projects, cooperation and solidarity in the region," one Turkish diplomat said. "They (the French) have given us a guarantee that the Mediterranean Union is not an alternative to Turkey's EU project, they say that idea has now been abandoned. They are sincere in this," the diplomat told Reuters.

Ankara initially saw Sarkozy's proposal as an attempt to persuade Turkey to drop its bid to become a fully fledged EU member state. Turkey began EU entry talks in 2005, though they have been dogged by rows over Cyprus and human rights, and it is not seen joining the wealthy bloc before 2015 at the earliest.

Berlin also opposed the original Sarkozy plan because it envisaged a grouping of Mediterranean rim states, including France's former North African colonies, drawing on EU funds while sidelining non-Mediterranean countries such as Germany.
Turkish officials say they do not expect swift progress on it but say France should try to organise preparatory meetings and give more detailed plans before Paris takes over the EU's rotating presidency in July. Sarkozy is expected to launch the Union at a Paris summit on July 13-14 involving all 27 EU member states and Mediterranean rim countries including Turkey.

ALL IN

"You will see that we have found a compromise on this Mediterranean Union, which will not exclude anyone," Sarkozy said at a joint news conference with Merkel in the northern German city of Hanover. He did not elaborate, but Merkel said the Mediterranean Union would be a project involving all EU member states, and both leaders said they would present details to partners at a coming EU summit.

France had already watered down the project, assuring European Union partners it would complement rather than replace the existing EU-Mediterranean framework, and symbolically renaming it a "Union for the Mediterranean".  "It doesn't matter to me whether it's called Mediterranean Union or Union for the Mediterranean," Merkel said, "What's important is that this is a project of EU states."

The French president had initially aimed to launch the Union at a Paris summit on July 13-14, with the Mediterranean states attending the first day and other EU states joining to bless the initiatives on the next, the national holiday Bastille Day. But officials say France, which takes over the rotating EU presidency in July, now favours switching those dates, starting with the meeting of all EU states.

CONFLICTS

Merkel and Sarkozy have differed over a series of economic and foreign policy issues since the French president took office last May, including the independence of the European Central Bank, nuclear energy contracts and industrial policy.

Monday's meeting, at the opening of the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover, came after France had cancelled two high-level meetings between French and German leaders. In a speech earlier on Monday, Sarkozy justified his policy of defending "national champions", which has raised eyebrows in Germany, and said Paris and Berlin differed over economic policy, including the role of the state in the economy. But the two leaders emphasised unity at their joint news conference, saying strong relations between France and Germany were important for the entire European Union.

"It's obvious that we always find agreement when it matters," Merkel told the news conference, smiling. Sarkozy added: "What's important is not to have problems but to find solutions."

Merkel said Germany would support France on issues including the fight against tax evasion, when Paris takes over the EU presidency. "We want to further develop policies against tax havens and will support France in this during the presidency," she said. Germany has spearheaded a crackdown on tax havens, targeting hundreds of Germans who may have evaded taxes by parking money in Liechtenstein.