EU strategy to integrate neighbor southern Mediterranean countries
Regional-European Union, Politics, 3/13/2003

The European Commission on Tuesday reaffirmed its will to open up to its neighbor states in south Mediterranean and former soviet states when it unveiled an ambitious plan for agreements with countries that will enlarge EU after May 2004.

Seen as a framework for relations with Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus as well as Southern Mediterranean countries for the next ten years, the plan offers a clearly symbiotic relationship.

If these countries adhere to certain EU standards, then they will be able to avail of the EU's free market. This is the gist of the plan presented by Commission President Romano Prodi and External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten.

Referring to the set of countries meant as "a ring of friendly countries" in his State of the Union speech to the European Parliament, Prodi said that the aim is "to step up cooperation to start a process that may in time lead us to share everything short of institutions'."

These "third" countries will have to work for the privilege of access to the EU's internal market. "In return for concrete progress demonstrating shared values and effective implementation of political, economic and institutional reforms, all the neighboring countries should be offered the prospect of a stake in the EU's internal market," said the Commission.

Rewards offered by the EU include greater political involvement in conflict prevention, preferential trading relations and new sources of finance.

The Commission drew up this plan following a request from member states at the Copenhagen Summit in December for it to produce long term concrete proposals for relations with third countries.

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