The European Origins of Euro-Mediterranean Practices

Federica Bicchi compares the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership with previous efforts of the EU to address the southern Mediterranean. The paper focuses on the main practices by which the EC/EU has pursued its aim of region building in the Mediterranean. First, by examining the making of the Global Mediterranean Policy the paper analyses how the concept of a "Mediterranean region" came to be enshrined in European external relations. Second, it describes the multilateral institutional setting created by the EMP. Third, the paper shows how the agenda of the EMP has changed since 1995. Bicchi then analyzes the origins of these practices, as well as their pros and cons , arguing that EMP practices strictly relate to EC/EU internal practices, more so than to OSCE core principles. She warns that ‘downloading’ from EU cooperation history with little adaptation might miss the point in diversified and fragmented Southern Mediterranean societies.