Abstract
In November 2005, the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona Process was celebrated. It was the opportunity to take stock of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP). Indeed it was often said that the Partnership was a failure or at least disappointing. The most striking feature of this statement is the ongoing crisis in the Middle-East. But to make such a harsh assessment, one must first define and evaluate exactly what the EMP was set for, what its objectives were, and how it managed to develop despite obstacles. The Barcelona Declaration of 1995, set the EMP, at the time, with 15 EU member states and 12 Mediterranean countries. These 27 partners defined three areas of cooperation which corresponded to three different chapters: a political and security, first chapter, an economic and financial, second one, and finally a chapter in social, cultural and human affairs. It must be stated from the beginning that this Declaration was only politically binding, but not legally binding, which was the condition for Israel, for instance, to take part in the partnership.
