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 Arab League |  European Union |
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Arab League and European Union relations matured during the EU's evolution into a more political project than one focused on economic outcomes.
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Organizational relations started in 2007, when theArab League adopted a policy of reaching out to other regional organizations and significant economic partners, particularly theEU,ASEAN,China,India,Japan andSouth America.
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Although theArab League was created decades before the creation of theEuropean Union, the bloc has played an important role in its formation and development. The League's conception, which was initially supported by theUnited Kingdom, aimed to increasenationalist sentiment in the Middle East against theOttoman Empire duringWorld War I. The European states then suffered from what was called the independent movements that raged the Arab world. This occurred especially inFrench ColonizedAlgeria,Syria,Lebanon andMorocco, andBritish ColonizedIraq,Egypt,Palestine and the Kingdom ofTrans-Jordan. Pan-Arabism became most widespread under Egyptian PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser during theSuez Canal Crisis. After Nasser's death, tensions between the European Union and the Arab League eased. In 1973, Arab-European relations focused on the exchange of petroleum products for political support.[1]
At the 19th summit of the Arab League,Javier Solana attended. He gave the EU's full support to the Arab League's Peace Initiative of 2002.[2] At the summit, he addressed the Arab Leaders: "Once again we find ourselves together, the European Union and the Arab League, once again we have an opportunity to re-affirm our joint commitment to the values of civilisation that we share, more than ever Europeans and Arabs have to face common challenges, I am confident that we will find new ways to improve our cooperation."[3]
In 2008, an Arab League-EU Summit was held in Malta, in the presence of 49 foreign ministers and representatives from 49 countries, 27 European states, and 22 Arab states. The summit concluded with a final resolution, known as the Malta Communique, which discussed mostly political issues in the Middle East, including tensions in Iraq, Lebanon, and theGaza Strip. The summit was the result of the "Malta Initiative", launched in 2005 by Maltese Minister of Foreign AffairsMichael Frendo to bring together the European Union and the League of Arab States at Foreign Minister level for the first time. This summit, often referred to as "Malta I", was followed by "Malta II" held inCairo, Egypt, which gathered foreign ministers from both theEuropean Union and theArab League and resulted in the issue of the Cairo Declaration on 13 November 2012.[4][5]
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