The leaders of seven Mediterranean member states – Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Malta, Italy and Portugal – sent out a message of unity to their partners whilst emphasising the priorities arising from their specific situation, in Athens on Friday 9 September, a week ahead of the informal summit of the 27 in Bratislava.
As Mediterranean countries, "it is our duty to submit our own approach to the treatment and resolution of the challenges we face, to respond to nationalistic and xenophobic forces", Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said after the mini-summit. "We are not and do not aspire to become another initiative that divides Europe", he said.
The seven participating countries adopted a declaration stressing their main concerns. The first of these involves the protection of the external borders of the Union and sharing the burden of hosting migrants. "The Mediterranean countries are dealing with the problems on behalf of Europe", French President François Hollande commented with regard to this. He went on to say that cooperation between the Mediterranean countries and the countries of origin of the migrants, particularly countries in Africa, will contribute to the stability and security of Europe as a whole. Along the same lines, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who will play host for the next mini-summit of the seven, called for increased support in relations between Africa and Europe.
Italy and Greece, which are very much on the frontline when it comes to managing migration flows, call on the other countries of the EU to take their commitments, particularly when it comes to relocating refugees. Three thousand refugees have been relocated in the EU in 2016, out of a target of 300,000 people, Tsipras lamented in an interview with the daily French newspaper Le Monde.
Another major priority of the seven Mediterranean countries is to fight terrorism. "Intelligence-sharing must be improved, particularly by creating a dedicated, real-time platform for multilateral exchanges", the Athens declaration reads.
As regards economic matters, the seven Mediterranean countries, many of which were hit hard by the sovereign debt crisis, are calling for policies to shore up growth. They have taken on board France's suggestion that the Juncker investment plan be doubled. Similarly, in order to promote mobility, the youth employment initiative and the'Erasmus programme should be scaled up.
Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat stressed the importance of making progress at European level in the social domain. "The idea of a 'social Europe' has been forgotten for a long time and we are saying that we will support the evolution of a Union that returns to that idea", he said. The seven countries stressed that they are "determined to enforce the social acquis and promote social cohesion and social convergence". They add that they are also prepared to pursue structural reforms conducive to growth and have set the priority of fighting tax dumping. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)