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Europe & Middle East / Comment

Blair, human rights and the Barcelona Process

13/01/2005 By David Mathieson

The 10th anniversary of the Barcelona Euro-Med conference will take place during the period when Britain holds the presidency of the European Union (June-December 2005). The British have already indicated that events to discuss the Barcelona charter will be a priority of their term and that they expect to be working closely with Spain on the agenda. It is, therefore, important for both Spanish and the wider European participants to understand recent directions in British foreign policy.

Beyond the coincidence of the 10th anniversary, there are several reasons behind Tony Blair´s decision to put Barcelona on the agenda for the British presidency. Whilst Blair remains unapologetic for British military involvement in Iraq he is also aware of the need to find ways of reconnecting with European partners working in the region.

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Keywords

Barcelona Process EU EU Foreign Policy European Union

Related publications

• Democracy and Human Rights in the Barcelona process: conclusions of a workshop at FRIDE

Bio author: David Mathieson

PhD in Modern History and Economics from the University of London. He has published numerous articles in Expansión, El País, El Correo, La Razón, the magazine Temas para el Deabte, The Guardian, Tribune, The New Statesman and the Foreign Policy Centre.