ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the development of the Union's role in the Peace Process and examines the utility of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership in strengthening its economic and political influence in the region. It examines European reactions to the US-sponsored Madrid conference between Israel and the Palestinians. The chapter focuses on the period after the introduction of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the realisation on the part of the European Union (EU) that its strengths lay in low-profile diplomacy and the provision of financial support to the Palestinian Authority. The latitude enjoyed by the British Foreign Secretary bore testament to a stronger degree of cohesion among the member states on the EU's involvement in the Peace Process. The chapter shows how the fortunes of the Barcelona process ebbed and flowed with developments in the Middle East. It assesses how the Union fared in using the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements to influence the behaviour of the Palestinians and Israelis.
