Syria-EU relations need review
Gulf News | 23 May 2008
Syria-EU relations need review
By Marwan Kabalan, Special to Gulf News
Despite tense relations between Syria and the European Union (EU), economic ties between the two sides have remained largely intact. In recent weeks, the EU has granted Syria millions of euros in aid money — on the condition that it would be used for the promotion of good governance, social development and equitable economy. The EU has also resisted the US pressure to impose economic sanctions on Syria and opted instead for limited political contact and low-level meetings with Syrian officials. The EU is, therefore, Syria’s biggest trading partner, accounting for over 50 per cent of its trade in 2006 and 2007. Eighty-five per cent of EU imports from Syria were energy, making the country the EU’s 9th largest source of energy imports. With a total trade with the EU of 7 billion euros in 2007, Syria ranks as the EU’s 45th trading partner.
Syria remains, however, the only long-standing partner out of the nine other Mediterranean countries under the Barcelona process who hasn’t signed an association agreement with the EU. In October 2004 an agreement seemed in hand when Syria dropped most conditions in an attempt to minimise the effects of economic sanctions by the US. Britain, Germany and the Netherlands refused to approve the original text, demanding Damascus to explicitly renounce Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in the accord. At the March 2004 EU summit, the Netherlands and Britain held out for a tougher clause, compelling the EU to agree on making renunciation of WMD a standard feature of trade and aid agreements with third countries under its common security policy. The situation in Lebanon complicated the picture further, making it even more difficult for the EU Council to ratify the agreement with Syria. The EU has made resolving the crisis in Lebanon and severing relations with Tehran pre-conditions for developing relations with Syria.
Traditionally, Syria has enjoyed warm relations with most of the EU member states. The key tenants of the ruling Baath’s ideology, i.e. secularism and nationalism, were also imported from Europe (France and Germany in particular). Michel Aflaq, founder of the Baath party, was educated in the Sorbonne and it was in Paris that his thoughts on Arab nationalism were first envisaged.
More recently, during the US invasion of Iraq, Syria found itself more in harmony with Europe than the US. Syrian-French-German co-operation was abundantly clear in the UN Security Council in 2002-03. The three countries had strongly opposed the US plan to invade Iraq. Europe was also Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s first destination upon his arrival in power. A few months after taking office he visited France, Germany and Spain, requesting support for his policies.
Variety of ways
In a variety of ways, Syria has always looked to Europe as an important partner. It needs EU assistance to modernise its economy and liberalise its system. Concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict, Syria has demanded deeper EU involvement and strong commitment to counter-act the US hegemony in the Middle East. Resolving the six-decade old Arab-Israeli conflict is an important prerequisite for further Syrian integration in the Mediterranean Union process, proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Europe, at the moment, does not have real influence in the Middle East. It does not have leverage on either the Arabs or the Israelis. For decades, Europe has been trying to strike a balance between its economic and political power world-wide, but particularly in the Middle East. Europe has also been trying to counterbalance the hegemonic position of the US in this vitally important region of the world. Isolating Syria did not help Europe in achieving this goal.
Engagement, incentive-driven policy and temptation would indeed help reintegrate Syria in the international community and abandon some of its controversial regional policies. Improved Syrian-EU ties would also give Europe the influence it needs to affect events in the turbulent region of the Middle East. Ratifying the association agreement should be the first step in the process of reviewing Europe’s relations with Damascus.
Dr Marwan Kabalan is a lecturer in media and international relations, Faculty of Political Science and Media, Damascus University, Syria.
