Launch of the Arabic version of the report: "Human Rights Implication of the Meda Programmes

The EMHRN released in October 2002 a pioneering study of the relationship between human rights and the EU’s economic assistance to its Mediterranean Partners. This report asks how the MEDA programmes relate to the human rights policies of the EU and explores ways to assess the implications of the programmes for human rights promotion and protection in the Mediterranean region.
The report notes the progress made by the EU with regards to human rights issues in the Mediterranean during the past three years.

The report concludes that

The Community aid instruments are not yet being applied in a manner coherent and consistent with the Community ‘acquis’ relevant to human rights, including the fact that ‘respect for human rights’ has been adopted as a core principle of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
Human rights objectives and benchmarks have yet to be identified by the Community in relation to its Mediterranean Partners. In addition, there is a need to systematically assess the human rights implications of the objectives and priorities set out in the regional and country strategies and programmes.
· Consultation with civil society should be systematically applied on national and regional levels.


The MEDA programmes were created in November 1995 by the adoption of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) by the EU Member States and its 12 Mediterranean Partners[1]. The aim of the MEDA programmes (worth 5,350 million Euros between 2000 and 2006) is to support financial and technical measures to accompany social and economic reform in the region.

The report describes the thinking behind the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership’s human rights and economic approach and how it relates to the general development of interlinking human rights and development policies. It describes human rights implications of three key elements in the MEDA programmes: structural adjustment, social and economic alleviation, and civil society.

The report is published by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network. The EMHRN was established in January 1997 in response to the establishment of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and comprise more than fifty human rights organisations and institutions in more than twenty countries. The MEDA report is the fifth in a series of EMRHN publications aimed at debating the human rights dimension of the Barcelona process.


The report is written by Charles Shamas and Iain Byrne.

Contact point: Marc Schade-Poulsen, EMHRN, tel: +45.32.69.8910, msp@euromedrights.net

Bibliographic notes: The Human Rights Implications of the MEDA Programmes. Personal authors: Iain Byrne and Charles Shamas. Editor: Marc Schade-Poulsen. Corporate Author: Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network

Publisher: Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network



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[1] Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and the Palestinian Authority.



For further information please contact:

Marc Schade-Poulsen, Executive Director /
Marit Floe Joergensen, Information Officer
Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network, Wilders Plads 8 H, DK-1403 Copenhagen K, Denmark
Tel: +45-32 69 89 12 / Fax: +45-32 69 89 01
E-mail: info@euromedrights.net