According to a press release, Ministers responsible for energy issues in the 43 member countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) met up in Rome on Thursday 1 December where they agreed to “step up regional cooperation in the energy field as a means of guaranteeing safe, sustainable and affordable energy”. The press release also explains that this agreement “is an important factor for stability and shared prosperity in the Mediterranean region”.
This meeting was co-chaired by the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, and the Jordanian minister for Energy and Mineral Resources, Ibrahim Saif. The meeting decided that “political dialogue” would take place with “concrete initiatives” in the context of the three “energy” platforms set up in the UfM (electricity, gas and renewable energies).
These platforms are considered as “flexible and efficient structures” that are capable of organising and supporting “systematic dialogue between UfM members, the financial institutions, regional organisations, industrial companies and experts”.
Commissioner Cañete pointed out that cooperation in the energy sector is a “major element in the euro-Mediterranean partnership” and a “key on which to base stability and prosperity in the region”. He explained that this requires “large-scale investments” mainly from the private sector in tandem with an attractive regulatory framework. (Original version in French by Fathi B’Chir)