EU Power Play in the Middle East

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the Barcelona Declaration, and the Barcelona Process that came out of it, marks a new phase in Europe's foreign policy. It explores how this is a stage in which the European Union is announcing that it cannot afford the continuing conflict in the Middle East and that peace is the only option. This peace is an important factor in the EU's foreign and security policy. It concludes that, even though the EU is not challenging the role of the United States, it is working for peace, not just following in the U.S.'s footsteps.

From the Paper:

"The reason why the European Union is placing a high level of importance on the Middle East Peace process is that it is related to its own security. This is admitted in the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and explained in the EU's 1999 statement on peace in the Middle East. As the CFSP openly seems to declare, the security interests of the EU cannot be divorced from the Middle East situation, not just because of the close geographic relation between them but because this area provides the EU with the majority of its energy needs and counts as a major trade partner, not to mention a leading source of investment in Europe (16). Therefore, the close geographic and economic relations between the two regions have placed the EU in a position in which it needs to give a status of priority to the Middle East Peace process. It is as such that the EU's resolution on peace in the Middle East firmly calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the removal of illegal Israeli settlements and the return of all occupied Arab territories (""EU European Parliament: Resolution ..."). The fact that the EU stresses these points is because it understands that the realizing of these goals is the only way to stabilize the region, thereby creating a peaceful and stable neighborhood for the EU."

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