By IRNA
Berlin : Germany and France have made a special proposal for chairing the planned Mediterranean Union, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told the press here Wednesday.
According to the Franco-German plan, the Mediterranean Union Presidency will be comprised jointly of an European Union country bordering on the Mediterranean Sea and a Mediterranean Sea littoral state.
The presidency is to rotate every two years over the next 18 years, Wilhelm said.
After nine two-year election periods, rules for selecting the chairmanship of the Mediterranean Union could be changed, the chancellery spokesperson added.
The German-French position paper for reviving the Mediterranean Sea policy has already been sent to the participants of the EU summit in Brussels, due to take place on Thursday and Friday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy are also to brief the EU heads of states and governments on the proposal.
Meanwhile, Wilhelm said that the position paper rules out any additional financial funds for the Mediterranean Union other than the 16 billion euros which was initially agreed to be allocated by the EU for 2007 until 2013.
Sarkozy’s plans for the Mediterranean Union which is expected to become a centerpiece of France’s upcoming rotating EU presidency effective July 1, had led to irritations with Berlin which had repeatedly warned of unilateral French moves on the issue.
The dispute over the Mediterranean Union sparked the cancellation of the Franco-German summit meeting which was scheduled to take place in the south German town of Straubing on March 3.
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.