Cairo - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit has dismissed concerns in Arab countries that a proposed Euro- Mediterranean union is a European attempt to control them and merge them into an unwanted alliance with Israel, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

Abul-Gheit told Egypt's semi-official daily al-Ahram that the new union was an extension of the Barcelona process, but would give countries south of the Mediterranean a central role.

The Barcelona process - launched in 1995 - established formal cooperation between 27 members of the European Union and 12 southern Mediterranean countries in the political, economic, cultural, social and migration spheres.

"The new union activates the principle of joint ownership, which existed only in theory in the Barcelona process," Abul-Gheit said in the interview with al-Ahram, allaying fears that European countries, representing the rich north, would assert their hegemony over the poor south.

Joint ownership means that two countries - one from Europe and another from the southern Mediterranean - would co-chair the union with each having equal powers, he said.

"This is an important development because it means a country from the north and a country from the south are jointly running the new union. I would like to place the emphasis on the world jointly," Abuld Gheit said.

The proposed union is the brainchild of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was forced to back down on his original proposal for links between EU and non-EU Mediterranean states.

He was instead forced to accept German demands that the idea be broadened out to include the whole European bloc.

Last month, Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi rejected the union, which he described as an "insult" to Arabs and Africans. He told a mini-Arab summit in Tripoli, which discussed the issue, that it was a "bait" that Europeans are trying to attract Arabs with.

Arab countries fear that joining the union will bring them together with Israel. This would mean normalizing ties with the Jewish state, which still occupies Palestinian and Syrian land.

Both Syria and the Palestinian Authority would be members of the union. Egypt is the only Arab Mediterranean country with full diplomatic ties with Israel.

"The new union does not involve by any means any political or economic union, which is simply unimaginable," Abul-Gheit noted, dismissing concerns over Israel's membership in the union.

"How can an Arab country enter into a union with Israel, which we all know is still occupying Palestinian and Arab land," he added.

Abul-Gheit addressed Arab unease over the name "union" given to the emerging Euro-Med alliance.

"Union simply means that efforts are united to jointly achieve common goals," the minister explained.

The new union foresees cooperation in reducing pollution in the Mediterranean, alternative energy and academic projects, Abul-Gheit said. (dpa)