Sarkozy Touts 'Mediterranean Union' Plan

Next comes the 'Mediterranean Union' then will come the N. American Union.

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced his intentions to hold a summit in France next year to gauge opinion on whether it would be possible to establish a Mediterranean Union between Europe's closest neighbours. The French President had proposed such an idea before, but his idea has so far received a mixed response. Courtesy of Javier Solana, the High Representative for the European Common, Foreign and Security Policy, many Middle Eastern and North African states have already signed up to the European Neighbourhood Policy. The ENP offers participating states economic incentives in return for political and democratic reforms. Then there is what's known as EuroMed or the Barcelona Process, again the brainchild of Javier Solana. EuroMed serves as a catalyst for peace in the Middle East, by providing a "wide framework of political, economic and social relations between the Member States of the European Union and Partners of the Southern Mediterranean". But Sarkozy's plan for a Mediterranean Union would go much further than that, allowing Middle Eastern countries to set up a union similar to that of the European Union, which would promote peace and stability in the region.