The northern member-states of the European Union endorsed the Euro-Mediterranean Global Partnership relatively late in its gestation, and with some reluctance. None the less, their participation in the Barcelona process reflects an increase in interest and concern among the northern states in relation to the southern Mediterranean. While the nationstate remains fundamental to perceptions of interest, it is useful up to a point to generaliseabout northern and southern outlooks on the Euro-Mediterranean process within the EU. The traditional ‘trade versus aid’ divergence between northern and southern European states over their preferred means of supporting the development of North Africa has become less pronounced, but has not disappeared. The northern European states areparticularly keen to fulfill the economic objectives of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, and in some respects may be better placed than the southern Europeans to encourage North African states to pursue the political objectives of the process, involving liberalisation. The EU as a whole has an economic doctrine which is being exported through the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, but so far neither its northern nor its southern member-states have managed to formulate a political strategy for the promotion of democratic values
