The European Union wants to believe that the ceasefire in the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organisation in Gaza is likely to mark “a turning point” in rewriting the future of the Mediterranean area.
“From the fall of the Assad regime to the war in Gaza, the region remains on a knife’s edge. Today, we have a window of opportunity to reframe the EU’s relationship with the Southern Neighbourhood”, declared the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, as she presented the broad outlines of the ‘Pact for the Mediterranean’ on Thursday 16 October.
This Pact presents a new vision of relations between the EU and the ten third countries around the Mediterranean: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia. As candidate countries for EU membership, Turkey and the Western Balkan countries are not included.
The European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) highlight the change in approach in relation to the Agenda for the Mediterranean adopted in February 2021 (see EUROPE 12654/8). The partnership is now between equals, the Pact was drawn up as close to the ground as possible, and all the partner countries were consulted, including governments, economic players and civil society. The Pact is also “a living document” that will evolve over time as new initiatives are launched, according to a European source on Wednesday 15 October.
A rare occurrence: the preparatory discussions even enabled the Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers to sit at the same table, even during the war in Gaza.
“This time, there is a real change in methodology”, said Dubravka Šuica, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, pointing out that she is the first to be entrusted with such a mission, supported by a new directorate-general within the European Commission (MENA).
Ms Šuica described the three pillars of the Pact for the Mediterranean. The first concerns interpersonal relations. Action will be taken in the fields of education, research and youth. In particular, a Mediterranean centre for ‘scientific diplomacy’ will be set up to train diplomatic and technical staff in cross-border negotiation and the design of joint projects. A parliamentary assembly of young people from all the participating countries will also be created, and could meet twice a year.
A ‘European University Alliance’ will be set up to develop courses of common interest and staff exchanges. “I hope that this will be my legacy”, said the Commissioner, who had confided the day before in an interview with a number of media that she was trying to make a reality of a dream that Italian Romano Prodi had already had, when he chaired the Commission in the early 2000s.
The second pillar of cooperation will be the deepening of economic exchanges. But “this will not happen if regulatory standards are not stable” or if capital is not invested safely, warned Ms Šuica, while asserting that it was not a question of imposing EU rules.
Many sectors - transport, energy, marine economy, new technologies (5G, AI...) - are concerned and could benefit from support to contribute to the decarbonisation of economies and combat climate disruption, which is severely affecting the Mediterranean.
For example, the Commission is proposing the creation of a ‘T-MED’ platform for investment in renewable energies and clean technologies, the launch of partnerships for the management of water resources, the launch of an observatory for the ‘blue economy’, and the improvement of connectivity and urban mobility.
The final pillar of the Pact is security, resilience and migration. For the Commission, the EU and its Mediterranean partners face “common challenges” on these issues. It proposes strengthening the mechanisms for preparing for natural disasters, for example by setting up a European centre in Cyprus to fight forest fires.
While Europeans want to cooperate with their Mediterranean partners to better combat illegal immigration, Ms Šuica also advocated the creation of “legal migration channels” to bring professionals into the EU on a temporary basis in fields facing shortages. The Talent Partnership initiative, which already exists with Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, will be expanded, she added.
In all, 17 flagship projects and around a hundred smaller ones are being showcased. Once the Pact has been ratified by all the countries concerned, an action plan will be drawn up in the first quarter of 2026 to make it more concrete.
Financing. The Pact’s promoters are not putting forward any new money to support its implementation.
The European Commissioner pointed out that the proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2028-2034 provides for a budget of “€42 billion” for the Mediterranean region, double the amount included in the current MFF. Of the €21 billion planned for the period 2021-2027, around €8 billion has yet to be earmarked. International financial organisations (EIB, EBRD) and national development banks will also be able to contribute.
Above all, the hope is that the public money available will make it possible to mobilise up to five times as much private capital in terms of investment. “The main thrust of the Pact will be to mobilise the private sector”, confirmed this European source.
Next steps. The ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council will be asked to approve the Pact for the Mediterranean by adopting specific conclusions. It is due to be endorsed on the sidelines of the Barcelona Process 30th anniversary celebrations on 28 November in Barcelona.
To see the Pact for the Mediterranean: https://aeur.eu/f/j09 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)