ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the main patterns of negotiation and associative diplomacy that shaped and re-shaped Mediterranean policy. It outlines the formative phase of the European Union's relations with the Mediterranean partners and the main determinants of the Community's choice of policy instruments. The chapter evaluates the first major policy development in the 1970s - the Global Mediterranean Policy - and discusses the politics behind the Community's first attempt to develop a comprehensive policy framework for the region. It assesses how the Community adapted its Mediterranean policy at the time of the accession of Greece, Portugal and Spain during the 1980s. On the economic front, southern enlargement had major implications for the Community's internal market in Mediterranean-type agricultural products. The foundation for the policy was the management of trade relations with Mediterranean third countries and the preservation of import/export patterns inherited from the colonial period.
