ABSTRACT
In its short life to date, the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP), rather like a roller-coaster, has experienced a number of ups and downs. The 1995 Barcelona Declaration optimistically aspired to the creation of a ‘zone of peace and stability’ in the Mediterranean region, in direct support for the formation of a free-trade zone and inter-cultural rapprochement. However, the rapid and steady deterioration of the Middle Eastern Peace Process in the second half of the 1990s has put much of the progress on hold. Even though the Barak government came to power in Israel in June 1999 with the promise of revitalizing the process, there still appear to be significant difficulties.
