Within the European area, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has long been accepted as a formidable machine to distribute public assistance, and a way of supporting unlimited productivity.
Nobody seems to doubt, at least officially, the many economic, social and environmental functions performed by agriculture in many parts of the countries that border the Mediterranean basin.
Transport in the Mediterranean region constitutes an opportunity for integrated social and economic development in the area.
The ports have always been the «lungs» of trade across the Mediterranean, and meeting points for culture, diaspora and crossbreeding.
The condition of the labour market in the Mediterranean has proved to be far more worrying than was first anticipated in the early stages of the Partnership.
In European and southern Mediterranean public opinion, the Barcelona Process and the successive Association agreements have constituted a state matter.
Although worldwide tourism may have enjoyed a slight growth in 2003, constant pressure on prices means that the same cannot be said for its earnings.
What has been the experience of the North African region with respect to exchange rate management?
In the last fifty years, the number of non-resident tourists has multiplied exponentially in the Mediterranean.
During recent years, Arab-Mediterranean countries have gone through various processes of institutional reform, which has topped the agenda of Arab development in the 1990s.
When the Toledo meeting was held, of the twelve EU Mediterranean partners only in Syria was the establishment of an association agreement still pending.