What Role for Spain in the Union for the Mediterranean? Europeanising through Continuity and Adaptation

Abstract

  The initially named Mediterranean Union proposal, later “The Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean” and finally Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), has significantly changed Euro-Mediterranean relations. From the first formulation of February 2007 to the 2008 Paris summit, the French initiative was received with both interest and suspicion. The Mediterranean is one of the priority axes of Spain's foreign policy and it is also one of the pillars of its European policy. This article argues that the Spanish government's reaction to Sarkozy's moves is consistent with the Spanish logic placing the Mediterranean policy within a European framework. From the very start, Spain has endeavoured to carry on the Barcelona Process principles. In a second stage, it has adapted to the rationale of the Union for the Mediterranean through the pursuit of its own material interests. This article begins with a review of how Spain has Europeanised its foreign policy. Next, it examines how Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union has enabled Spain to pursue, through a strategy of soft Europeanisation, the utmost continuity between the Euro-Mediterranean Process and the French proposal. The final part of the article will focus on Spain's EU term presidency in 2010. The latter represents a unique opportunity for the country to recuperate its centrality in Mediterranean affairs, notably via the Barcelona UfM Secretariat.