The European Union will use a summit in Barcelona Sunday to seek to trumpet its âsoft powerâ in promoting reform in the Middle East, amid growing questions over more forceful US tactics, notably in Iraq. But critics claim that the Euro-med summit's relatively unambitious agenda â and the gaps on the top table, in terms of Mideast leaders showing up â reflect the EU's continuing battle to punch its weight in the region. British Prime Minister Tony Blair will co-host the two-day gathering of the 25-nation European bloc with 10 Mideast and Mediterranean states to fete the 10th anniverary of the Euro-Med partnership with Europe's southern neighbours. Sceptics argue that the pact â also known as the Barcelona process â has achieved little over the last decade.
| I think "little" might be overstating the case. "Nothing" would be closer. |