Calls for EU to Focus on Mediterranean

Meeting in Rome, representatives of France, Italy, Portugal and Spain called for fresh impetus to be added to the EU’s relations with North Africa and the Mediterranean. The four hoped that the meeting would revitalize the EU’s Barcelona Process that has governed the Union’s stop-start relations with the countries of the Mediterranean for the last 10 years. The "Rome four" called for the policy to be backed by "adequate financial resources," Spanish daily El Mundo reported. "The Mediterranean should not be a forgotten sea," said Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. Among the proposals mooted were plans to promote regional cohesion by funding poorer regions of North Africa, in the same way the EU uses its own regional funds. (EUobserver.com)