Sarkozy said he saw the creation of a union of Mediterranean states as a way to heal the wounds of the past...

Merkel warned that allowing a separate association with access to the EU coffers could lead to a "corrosion of the EU in its core area" and release "explosive forces in the EU" that she would not like to see.

Ambrose Bierce wrote:

BOUNDARY,n. In political geography,an imaginary line between ...nations,separating the imaginary rights of one from the imaginary rights of the other.

see: http://www.thedevilsdictionary.com/

if your French, and obsessed with France's "glory".    Once they are Muslim, they might get Algeria back (bloody insurrection and all).
 

If France wants Union with North African countries then it should leave the EU and try to set up such a union.  It should not try to drag the rest of the EU with it.  If the EU has to exist then it should not be an instrument of misguided French foreign policy.  The best approach though would be to cast the whole EU project into the dustbin of history where it truly belongs.  The people of Europe have suffered enough EU nonsense already, it is now necessary to call time on the EU.

A Franco-African Union is a better idea. More accurately reflects the composition of modern France.

Hear, hear.

Anything that drives a wedge between Germany and France will be a good thing for the people of the EU countries.

Just because a leader proposes something does not mean he wants it to happen, or mean anything. One of the most effective ways to avoid a popular but stupid idea is to propose something similar, but hollow. I don't know the details of this "partnership" but I would be willing to bet it is not a suicide pact like letting the Turks in to the EU, let alone Egypt and Algeria. The suspicions in Brussels are probably on the money.

If this can encourage a trend to break the Franco German axis within the EU then I am all for it.  I think the Euro Med Policy is bad but also think that what the French President is proposing is bad too.  Why don't we just admit it, the EU's main purpose is to be an instrument of French foreign policy.  It has nothing to do with promoting the interests of Europe and its people.  The sooner that the EU itself is broken the better. We have a duty as freedom loving people to oppose the EU and its subversive plans.  It is about time the people of Europe are given consideration - the so called elite have been dancing while Europe and its culture is trampled under foot.  This situation has to change!

as long as this bozo doesn't sell our military technology to the Chinese for more deals for French businesses.

While the French may have a well deserved reputation for being cheese-eating surrendermonkeys, it's worth noting that Sarkozy is of Greek-Hungarian descent.

Jokes aside, I'm all for his "Mediterranian Union". First, it would instantly cause the Barcelona Process to be abolished, to be replaced with something new. That in itself is a grand defeat of one of the most dangerous aspects of the European Union. Second, Turkish membership of EU would be replaced by the Mediterranian Union. Not bad, not at all.

Third, I simply don't believe he can pull it off. Frankly, which of the Mediterranian EU countries has the power and the economy to lift this? Italy? Greece? France herself? Please correct me, but I can't see any of these interested in a special coorperation with Algeria & Egypt. Respectful distance at best.

Always entertaining to watch Sarkozy. And if he can kill the EuroMed project, more power to him.

If Germany rattles a sabre France will collapse instantly as they have done twice in the last century.

Sarko just has to have his "Mediterranean Union." As if the EU wasn't enough. Damn I'm sick of this guy. He's a conservative my eye. No, he's a neo-conservative. A big freakin' phony.