France and the project of the Mediterranean union

Bachelor thesis deals with a topic rather unusual for Czech environment and that is the Mediterranean Union. The project of the Mediterranean Union was first introduced in 2007 in Toulon by then French presidential candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, as a part of his electoral campaign. The new Union was supposed to be a milestone in Euro-Mediterranean relations. It should have been built on the shortcomings of the previous Barcelona process founded in 1995, and therefore it was supposed to offer a true partnership to the Mediterranean states based on mutual equality, respect and shared values. However, even these ambitious goals remained unaccomplished and Sarkozy's initiative only continued the line of Euro- Mediterranean failures. The thesis structured as a case study with comparative elements aims to analyse the main controversial issues of the Sarkozy's proposal and its europeanized version, the Union for the Mediterranean, as well as to examine the motives and interests which influenced its final setting. Essential part of the analysis is the comparison of the new Union with the Barcelona Process for it enables us to draw parallels between the development of the two initiatives and their impact on Euro-Mediterranean relations. The thesis largely relies on secondary literature which is nevertheless..