Launched with typical pomp in Paris on 13 July by Nicolas Sarkozy, the Union of the Mediterranean seems stillborn, something already foreseen at the inaugural ceremony when the 44 participants seemed too eager to avoid any controversy.

On the eve of the meeting of the foreign ministers, who meet in Marseilles tomorrow and Tuesday, nothing has been settled, not least the issue where is the Union to have its HQ.

The candidate cities are Tunis, Valletta, Marseilles and the favourite, Barcelona.

Neither the Europeans nor the Arabs have agreed on one city. Among the Arab States, Lebanon and Syria object to the HQ being in any Arab country for that would imply a normalisation of relations with Israel. This is why some are suggesting Brussels as the headquarters of the Union of the Mediterranean, strange though this might seem.

Spanish diplomacy has been going full-blast to get the headquarters to Barcelona, even proposing to Tunis that it should withdraw its candidacy, promising it will get an executive post within the new HQ.

France was reported by Le Monde to want to keep the presidency of the Union until the next summit within two years but the Czech Republic and Sweden, the next two presidencies of the EU, have stood by the EU rules and impeded this ambition.