Middle East

The Middle East and Northern Africa are of strategic importance to Europe; relations with them must therefore be informed by a comprehensive, holistic strategy.

Germany is pursuing a number of interests in the region within a European framework. In order to combat the roots of fundamentalism and migration, the European Union must support and promote political, economic and social reform in its neighbors to the south. Furthermore, it must establish a working partnership in order to fight Islamic-motivated terrorism and prevent arms races and military confrontations. Regional partnerships and security structures must therefore be given adequate support, since only a stable Middle East can serve as a reliable source of energy for Europe and guarantee prosperity, education and employment for its own citizens.

Securing Israel's existence as a state, coupled with a stable resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, is especially important to Europe's political interests. This conflict has taken a heavy toll on regional development, and it lends legitimacy to both terrorists and authoritarian regimes. It also distracts from structural problems. Although two of Israel's four neighboring countries have signed peace treaties with it - Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 - the Israeli occupation of some Palestinian territory continues to this day. Helping the Israelis and Palestinians move toward achieving a two-state solution is the task facing the peace process's four mediators: the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. The process's roadmap provides a framework for resolving the conflict.

The Barcelona Process celebrated its 10th anniversary in November 2005. Despite reaching this milestone, results of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership to date are sobering. Though it has built a substantial institutional apparatus, the partnership has not managed to establish a regional security structure or trigger broad political reform in its Arab partner states. Progress has come mainly in the area of bilateral trade, in which association agreements among the partner states (with the exception of Syria) have provided for the transition to free trade for industrial products. In the future, even more so than in the past, the EU's traditional development aid must be tied to requirements for democratic participation in decision-making processes. One of the key areas for long-term reform is capacity development and knowledge sharing, which would contribute to political and economic development and thus to stability in the region.

Consequences of the Iraq war and Iran's nuclear ambitions have created new opportunities for regional partnerships that must be explored as well as new conditions for drafting security structures for the entire Gulf region. Establishing a security system for the Gulf region with a limited presence of external powers would represent a gain for everyone in the region, with a subregional security system following the 6+2+1 formula (GCC States plus Iran, Iraq and Yemen) as the desired goal. At present, a partnership of Iraq's neighboring states aimed at stabilizing and rebuilding that nation should form the nucleus of subregional cooperation.

In light of the growing importance of EU foreign relations with the Mediterranean region, the Near East and the Arabian/Persian Gulf region, the European Union is facing substantial challenges that it must tackle in cooperation with its partners, above all with its partners, particulary with the United States.