ABSTRACT
Over the past few years, the Middle East (or Arab-Israeli) conflict has proven to be one of the main stumbling blocks for progress in the EuroMediterranean Partnership (EMP).1 The stalemate in the Middle East peace process (MEPP) since the Netanyahu period (1996-99) and, particularly, the repercussions of the violent confrontations between Israel and the Palestinians since late September 2000 have been felt strongly in the EMP. The Marseilles meeting of Euro-Med foreign ministers in November 2000, for the first time, could no longer assemble around the same table all the parties to the Middle East conflict (the Syrian and Lebanese representatives did not attend in protest at the Israeli military reaction to the Intifada). At the same time, the adoption of the ‘Mediterranean Charter for Peace and Stability’, anticipated to occur during this event, failed to take place. Since then, it has become ever more evident that the objectives of confidencebuilding and regional stabilization in the Mediterranean cannot be met in the absence of a genuine peace process or even a political solution to the core conflict in the Middle East.
