On Friday 27 November, ministers of the member countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) stressed the need to prioritise the areas of action and decided on five areas of work.
“Building on the experience of the past 25 years, the Ministers have recognised the need to prioritise the areas of action where the UfM can play a crucial role and provide for a comparative advantage”, explained the Co-Presidency Statement issued at the end of the 5th Regional Forum.
It was decided to focus on climate and environmental action (since the region is warming up 20% faster than the rest of the world), social inclusiveness and equality, digital transformation and civil protection.
Sustainable and inclusive human and economic development is the final priority area of work, and focusses on employment, especially of young people, and the issue of investment and development in the blue economy.
“Fragmentation in the region has grown in the past year and the gap has been increasing between the countries in the Northern and Southern shores”, the statement said. In front of the media, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, explained that the EU was working to update its economic partnership between the EU and the countries of the Mediterranean basin. However, the southern countries must also trade with each other: trade between the Maghreb countries only accounted for 5% of their trade. “This region is one of the least economically integrated”, said the High Representative with regret. Moreover, salaries are sixteen times higher in the northern Mediterranean than in the south.
“We share our future and it will depend on how we can work together. We all agree to strengthen cooperation to address (the region's) challenges and to help the prosperity of the region”, Borrell said, adding that there is much to be done. For the High Representative did not deny the many difficulties in the region. “The problems of 25 years ago remain today; it is even worse than 25 years ago”, he acknowledged, noting that the region was fragmented, with conflicts and inequalities between and within countries.
According to the declaration, the ministers also agreed on the need to intensify efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic “by strengthening cooperation on research and innovation and exchanging information and scientific knowledge” and to mitigate the impact on economic growth, employment and social cohesion.
They also reaffirmed the importance of mobilising sufficient financial resources to enable the implementation of UfM projects and reiterated their commitment to support the UfM Secretariat. These are words that must now be borne out by deeds. As for 2020, “only 23 States contributed to the UfM, either financially or in terms of human resources: 19 have not. We must live up to our commitments”, argued Borrell. In his opinion, a lack of financial resources have meant that only two-thirds of the 60 UfM projects have been launched.
Furthermore, in order to “foster a common Mediterranean identity and increase the visibility and ownership of regional cooperation”, the Ministers decided to declare the 28 November as ‘Day of the Mediterranean’, a date which coincides with that of the 1995 Barcelona Declaration.
See the Co-Presidency Statement: https://bit.ly/2JdMQ2J (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)