French President Nicolas Sarkozy and 42 other leaders were to launch last night a union between Europe and its Mediterranean neighbours but tensions among Middle East countries could undermine their grand plan.
Heads of state and government from the 27 European Union nations and an arc of countries running from Morocco to the Balkans representing some 756 million people were expected to endorse the new forum at the Grand Palais on Paris's Champs Elysee.
The summit, was to start at 11.30pm Canberra time and was expected to see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad return to the international stage. But while he would sit at the same table as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, no talks between them were planned.
Libyan President Muammer Gaddafi boycotted the meeting, however Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to attend after personal lobbying from Mr Sarkozy, who had angered him by opposing Turkey's EU membership.
The union aims to build on the old Barcelona process, which was plagued by disputes between Israel and its Arab neighbours, but put the partners on a more equal footing.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday, ''We would like in the future to speak as equals about their problems with Mediterranean rim countries and also to help resolve European problems'', like the influx of migrants.
The new union is modest in its goals, according to an early draft of the summit declaration, but is already well on its way to success when compared with the last doomed gathering in Barcelona three years ago.
Many leaders from the south refused to attend that meeting, called to mark a decade of the Barcelona process, and those who did were unable to agree a final declaration.
Only EU leaders took part in the closing press conference.
Mr Sarkozy, through his energetic lobbying, has achieved one coup by getting almost everyone to the venue..
Drawing up a declaration has proved almost as tough, with references in the draft to Middle East peace moves and the fight against terrorism, extremism and weapons of mass destruction mentioned in brackets and likely to be dropped.
The new forum will concentrate on a series of modest regional projects.
They will focus on cleaning up pollution in the Mediterranean, building highways and sea lanes, disaster response, developing solar energy, boosting education and research, and fostering business. AFP