A Marshall Plan for the Arab World

This is why Italy has proposed a new EU Plan for the Mediterranean aimed at supporting the transition process and building upon existing institutional and financial tools to provide the region with additional resources. The Union for the Mediterranean, launched by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008, must be revitalized and re-directed towards development projects ranging from highways and ports to the promotion of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).

But a broader economic initiative is also needed to mobilize a critical mass of European and international financial resources to attract investment to the region and modernize its infrastructures and services. Let us, together with the US, tear down the trade and economic barriers that are stifling these economies. Let us also grant some Mediterranean countries association status that will allow them to integrate progressively into the EU’s internal market and participate in EU programs.

To achieve all of this, a clear set of principles is required. We Europeans must favor stability, create a real spirit of co-ownership, and promote political responsibility. In this new framework, the EU should avoid excessive conditionality, especially during the transition period.

Europe’s strong support for the region’s economic development must remain the top priority, as Arab countries introduce necessary reforms. Moreover, a dedicated financial institution should be set up to aid in this task. One proposal worth considering is to upgrade and strengthen the European Investment Bank’s Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP), which would become an autonomous institution, perhaps headquartered in the Middle East or North Africa, with shares held by the region’s governments (or other institutions) and other willing parties.

The London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development could join this effort by extending its activities to the region, which could be coupled with the creation of dedicated services to support the growth of job-creating enterprises. The EBRD made an important contribution to the economic transition process in Eastern Europe; there’s a good case for drawing on its experience and expertise to help the southern Mediterranean.

At the same time, the EU must launch a dialogue among equals on political and security matters, aimed at confidence-building across the region. A Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Mediterranean and the Middle East (CSCM) could quickly become a useful instrument for promoting this comprehensive approach to security and development. In short, we need to transform the Mediterranean countries into producers rather than consumers of regional stability.

We Europeans cannot afford to turn our backs on our Arab friends along the far shores of mare nostrum. They are part of our collective history, and they deserve the better future that we can help them to build.

Franco Frattini, Italy’s minister of foreign affairs, was EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security.

Copyright: Project Syndicate/Europe’s World, 2011.www.project-syndicate.orgwww.europesworld.org

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