Downing Street Says » EUROMED Summit

Asked for further information regarding the EUROMED Summit in Barcelona, the PMOS told journalists that in terms of the Barcelona Summit, what was important was to first of all recognise the importance of the Summit. This was the first gathering of this collection of countries at Head of Government level, and it brought together thirty five EUROMED countries, including twenty five EU countries. It also included other countries around the Mediterranean such as Turkey, Israel, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Syrian, Lebanon, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Libya and Mauritania.

This was the only forum, apart from the UN, which brought together this mix of countries including Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and their neighbours. It was again partly about trade between these countries, with the aim being to create a Euro/Mediterranean free trade area by 2010. It was also about the increase in co-operation on issues such as terrorism, immigration and cross-cultural tolerance which were very important issues for this collection of countries. It would also provide the Prime Minister with the chance to meet the Palestinian leader, Abu Mazen which would be important.

The PMOS said that in terms of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), it represented nearly half of humanity, a quarter of global trade, and a third of world governance, so it was a mighty meeting. With regards to the issues, terrorism was a very real issue, especially when the number of Commonwealth countries that were victims of terrorism, included Kenya, Tanzania, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, and the UK. In terms of trade, all the main WTO groupings were represented at CHOGM, and therefore, it did give us a chance to send a very strong signal ahead of Hong Kong. In terms of development, what we agreed on African development at Gleneagles was part of the agenda. Those were the key issues.

The PMOS said that tomorrow morning, there would be a opening ceremony, and an executive session, and there would also be two bi-laterals. In the afternoon, all the leaders would go into a retreat, where they would hold informal, private discussions.

Asked if the Prime Minister was seeking an agreement on terrorism, and was he looking for support from other countries, the PMOS replied that the important thing in terrorism was to create the mechanism for co-ordination. Also needed was not only an understanding of the security measures, but also the Prime Minister had highlighted many times how we tackled the ideology of terrorism, and how a consensus of toleration and moderation could be built. Again, the Commonwealth was a very important part of doing that, because if people had grievances, the way to express them was through politics, and not terrorism.

Asked for further details about trade, the PMOS said we wanted an ambitious outcome from the Doha round, which did not finish in Hong Kong, but Hong Kong was an important stepping-stone to doing that. Therefore, what was important was that the groupings represented in the Commonwealth used their influence within their individual groups to press for an ambitious outcome.

Put to the PMOS that the problem is not with the UK, but rather with other countries in the EU, the PMOS said that in terms of reaching deals, a growing consensus was important. In terms of people signalling political will, that also was important, so people should not downplay the importance of CHOGM.

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» Thursday, November 24, 2005

EUROMED Summit

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