ABSTRACT
The European Union generates 64.9 per cent of the region's imports and absorbs 71.0 per cent of its exports. European concern over the south Mediterranean rim developed from the French colonial experience and France's desire to maintain economic interests in North Africa. Europe's security concerns about the Mediterranean region also reflected the fact that it formed part of the European periphery or hinterland. Neither European states nor the political European entity created by the Union could remain indifferent to developments there. Such concerns have been quite explicit for north Mediterranean states, from Greece to Portugal. The collective European response to these Mediterranean problems has been moulded primarily by concerns over their likely effects on Europe itself, rather than as part of a regional solution. The security dimension of this basket has also experienced considerable delay, largely because of continuing tensions in the Middle East peace process involving not only regional states but also the European Union and the United States.
