MINISTERS from the current, previous and next EU presidencies - the so called troika - fly to Syria this morning. With a comprehensive Middle East, Peace deal a possibility, the EU, is keen to develop a role in supporting a new order. Today the troika ministers meet the Syrian President and Foreign Minister, and tomorrow the Israeli Prime Minister.
Compared with the US involvement, the EU role in the Middle East is not power politics. But it does have a presence in the peace process - for example it -co ordinated the observer mission for last month's election to the Palestine Council. The EU has participated in such monitoring missions in other countries before, but this was the first one it ran on its own.
If a deal can be worked out with Syria, Lebanon, which is effectively under Syrian control, would be part of it as well. For the first time since Israel was founded in 1948, it would have stable peace agreements with all its Arab neighbours.
The issues between Israel and Syria are fairly straightforward, and relate to a desolate but beautiful piece of land, the Golan Heights. Syria insists that the Golan, part of its territory before it was annexed by Israel after the 1967 war, be handed back. The Heights, however, command a magnificent view of Galilee. Israel has reason to be very conscious of this, as its citizens' farms in Galilee suffered regular shelling from the Heights until Israel annexed them.
Israel, therefore, does not want to hand the Golan back to unfettered Syrian control without security guarantees. Syria for its part will not countenance Israeli security posts on its territory to guard against attack. Syria's state run press has, however, said its government would be willing to have security arrangements on the Golan to take Israeli fears into account.
No firm compromise has emerged so far from the US backed talks between representatives of the two states that took place in Maryland recently. But an international peacekeeping or monitoring force is obviously a possibility.
If that happens, the EU states' could well play a role in a force put into the Golan. Under current legislation, Ireland could participate in such a force if it is sanctioned by the UN Security Council.
The troika will also be exploring the possibility of an aid package in the event of peace. Peace will cost money. Water, irrigation and road projects will be demanded to revitalise the area. The EU has a significant involvement in sustaining the Palestinian economy, and could have a similar involvement in stabilising an Israeli Syrian peace.
The EU has earmarked 500 million ECUs for Palestine between 1994 and 1998, a four or five times larger contribution than that of the next biggest donor. The money goes to infrastructure and controlling the Palestinian economy's budget deficit.
Similar projects would undoubtedly be set up for the Golan, but Israel has conditions attached. It wants such projects, to have a substantial cross border, element reasoning that if water, electricity, energy and other projects serve both Israel and Syria, there will be less chance of the countries going to war again.
The EU delegation leaves Damascus for Israel tomorrow morning, where it will meet the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Shimon Peres. His announcement of an early election means that no significant progress in talks with Syria is expected before the poll is over.
Likud, which has vociferously opposed the peace process with the Palestinians, was rocked when an extreme right wing opponent of the process assassinated the prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, late last year.
Faced with a need to distance itself somewhat from the extreme right, and with the reality that the Israeli evacuation of West Bank "towns can hardly be reversed, the Likud party has been struggling to portray a coherent identity.
With a fresh mandate, Mr Peres is expected to get down to serious dealing with Syria later in the year. While the EU will be on the sidelines during the crucial talks, a deal is likely to give it a possible role in securing the peace. This week's talks are a tentative step towards defining that role.
The EU ministerial delegation consists of the Italian Foreign Minister, Ms Susanna Agnelli, Spain's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr Fernandez Castano, and the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr Gay Mitchell.