By IRNA
Berlin : French President Nicolas Sarkozy has succumbed to pressure by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, agreeing to open the planned Mediterranean Union to all 27 European Union member states, press reports said Tuesday.
Both leaders announced an end to the dispute which had dragged on for several months, late Wednesday evening when they met in the northern city of Hannover.
Merkel and Sarkozy are to present details of their proposals at the next EU summit in Brussels in the middle of month.
“We agree in principle and details,” the French president said following his talks with the German leader.
Merkel echoed Sarkozy’s remarks by stressing that both sides worked well” on the issue.
The chancellor made clear that from the point of view of the EU, cooperation with the Mediterranean Union states has a strategic importance.
Initial unilateral French plans to include only EU countries, bordering on the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, met with stiff German resistance.
The row over the Mediterranean Union led to the cancellation of Franco-German summit meeting which was scheduled to take place on March 3 in the south German town of Straubing.
Paris aims for the creation of dozens of new institutions for the Mediterranean Union in the area of scientific and higher education cooperation, transportation, migration, agriculture and infrastructure projects by using the EU neighborhood fund.
France invited all surrounding countries of the Mediterranean Sea as well as Portugal, Mauritania, Jordan, the Arab League and the EU Commission President for the July 13 Mediterranean Union summit.
The French president has repeatedly called for such a strategic alliance since winning elections in early May, 2007.
Sarkozy seeks to include countries like Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Libya in this union.