The first is through regionalism . I know that there are several efforts at regional trade and economic initiatives among Middle Eastern and North African countries, and I hope that such initiatives will be encouraged to produce positive results. Regional initiatives are important because they can help countries at a comparable level of development to move relatively quickly in opening their economies and in deepening their interdependence. Regionalism is important as a means of facilitating the integration of the economies concerned into the mainstream of the global economy. This is the role that future negotiations between the EU and Mediterranean countries aimed at establishing a free trade area in the next 15 years should play.
Regionalism can also encourage a common approach to issues in international debate or negotiation.
But above all, regional trade initiatives are a powerful instrument to decrease or eliminate tensions. However, the rapid advance of global economic integration means that while regional initiatives remain important, they are not sufficient by themselves to address successfully the new perspectives of the international economy. That is why we need a second track, which is the rule-based multilateral system. And that is why the multilateral system is of fundamental importance to the economic prosperity of this region. Globalization is an irreversible process.