A series of EU projects strengthen ties with the Mediterranean
It has been 29 years since the so-called Barcelona Process (November 1995) strengthened the European Union's (EU) cooperation ties through the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Euromed) in order to foster growth in the Mediterranean region and ensure its stability through various cooperation mechanisms in areas related to politics, social programmes, the economy, energy and the impact of climate change.
In 2008, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) was created as an intergovernmental institution to serve as a meeting point between the EU and a total of 15 countries located in the southern and eastern Mediterranean. Its purpose is to lay the foundations for the promotion of dialogue between the parties involved and to foster cooperation between the two shores.
The Union for the Mediterranean brings together all EU Member States and other partner countries such as: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Albania, Israel, Lebanon, the Palestinian National Authority, Mauritania, Turkey, Morocco, Monaco, Tunisia, Syria and Turkey.
The clear intention to improve relations through the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and to foster cooperation has allowed the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (2021 to 2027) to have a budget of 19 billion euros for the development of programmes that enable a series of bilateral and multilateral actions to create a climate conducive to better understanding between Mediterranean countries.
In this respect, authors such as Haizam Amirah and Richard Youngs wrote for the Elcano Royal Institute how the design of the European Neighbourhood Policy added a ‘new dimension’ to relations with the southern Mediterranean.
Both researchers agree that these actions have created a kind of ‘ring of friends’ in the EU's new periphery with new instruments that are potentially relevant to the region.
‘The ENP offers the new neighbours the possibility to participate in many areas of EU economic cooperation, and in particular the single market. The ENP also aims to adopt a more human rights and democracy-oriented approach,’ according to Amirah and Youngs.
In a first analysis by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of the impact of the Euromed and neighbourhood policies, the IMF notes a number of positive developments in: 1) trade liberalisation; and, 2) increased financial assistance to Mediterranean countries.
The IMF highlights the Agadir Agreement (2004) between Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and Egypt as relevant in trade matters, as well as the bilateral signing of the Mediterranean countries with the EU to achieve better tariff conditions with substantial reductions in trade in industrial goods and the elimination of non-tariff barriers.
In addition, the EU has allowed customs harmonisation to take place, which has speeded up the region's trade and favoured a reduction in costs.
On the financial support side, the EU has significantly increased financial assistance to its Euro-Mediterranean partners and, through the European Investment Bank, loans are flowing more quickly to the region. As early as 2002, the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (FEMIP) was established.
Joseph Borrell, before stepping down as EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, reiterated that the economic, social and security challenges in the southern Mediterranean region represent a clear foreign policy challenge for the EU.
More clean energy
But there are also other challenges that are absolutely visible for the southern Mediterranean neighbours, and they are related to the energy sector and climate change.
Renewable energies and carbon neutrality in the region require investments to boost solar and wind energy. Precisely, the EU with the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have mobilised 7 billion euros for the period 2021-2027 to boost green investment projects.
The European Institute of the Mediterranean notes that as the hydrogen market develops, additional institutional support may be needed.
‘When European countries buy electricity or gas from countries on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean, they require proof that they are buying decarbonised energy. A harmonised system of guarantee of origin for the Euro-Mediterranean area is needed to create an integrated energy market so that green energy can circulate freely,’ according to the Institute.
Such is the case of hydrogen whose supply has a high potential and whose future will tend to expand because the trend indicates a greater potential demand.
The European Institute of the Mediterranean itself proposes the creation of a Mediterranean Hydrogen Alliance bringing together all stakeholders to define a common North-South strategy. If the economies of the Mediterranean basin have learned anything over the years, it is that by strengthening institutional understanding, greater progress in cooperation can be achieved and everyone involved wins.