Israeli Policy Perspectives on the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership in the Context of EU Enlargement

The idea of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) was launched while Israel was negotiating a new bilateral trade agreement with the EU. Thus, at the outset, Israel adopted quite a defensive position towards the initiative. After the start of the Barcelona Process, however, Israel played a more active role. With the launching of the EMP, an increasing number of Israeli policy-makers and intellectuals took the view that, in spite of its many deficiencies, Israel had a clear interest in the continuation of this process.