Reactivating the Mediterranean pact
Two subsequent crises, stemming from the Iraq War and the cascade of revolutions known as the misnamed “Arab Spring,” dampened an alliance that had begun by bringing the cultures on both sides of the ancient Mare Nostrum closer together than ever before through ambitious cooperation projects such as the one advocated by European and Arab public television stations.
Thirty years after the signing of the Barcelona Declaration, the EU and its southern Mediterranean partners have embarked on a new chapter of collective commitment. In more than three decades, the region has changed profoundly, with new challenges and geopolitical dynamics emerging, but also new opportunities for cooperation.
In times of geopolitical uncertainty, the Mediterranean is more than ever at the center of EU action, as emphasized by the High Representative and Vice President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas, before the ministers of European and Arab countries attending the commemorative meeting in Barcelona, considered a new historic moment to relaunch and intensify cooperation between the EU and Mediterranean countries.
Kallas emphasized this by stating that this project "occupies a prominent place on the EU's foreign policy agenda, from our support for the Syrian people after the fall of the Al-Assad regime to our search for stability in Gaza. We all want the same thing: peace, a better life for our citizens, and an opportunity for progress. That is what our Pact for the Mediterranean is all about. With European investments of billions in more than 100 projects, it will become a reality.“
This was also highlighted by the European Union's Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica, who pointed out that ”the Pact has the potential to unlock new drivers of human development, sustainability, and stability throughout our common Mediterranean space, and today we are taking a decisive step together in that direction."
The Pact, which was approved by the European Commission last October, is defined as a sea, an agreement, a future, and a shared ambition for the region. It is based on the principles of joint creation, responsibility, and implementation. It takes a practical approach, focusing on concrete initiatives—more than 100 projects have already been approved—that will bring added value to people and economies on all shores of the Mediterranean. The aim is to generate mutual benefits, from clean energy production to unlocking private investment.
It has three fundamental pillars: the first identifies people as the driving force behind change, connections, and innovation, which means promoting higher education, vocational training, skills, employment, special attention to youth and civil society, mobility, culture, tourism, and sport to the maximum extent possible.
The second pillar aims to build stronger, sustainable, and integrated economies, including actions related to modernizing trade and investment relations, promoting clean energy and technologies, water resilience, the blue economy and agriculture, digital and transport connectivity.
The third pillar focuses on security, preparedness, and migration management. In this chapter, priority initiatives will include disaster preparedness and resilience in the Mediterranean. An approach covering the entire migration route will be promoted, as well as a common approach to integrated border management and security, including operational partnerships to combat the smuggling of migrants.
This ambitious project will be submitted for approval by the next European Council in December. In such an interconnected and interdependent world, the Pact has declared itself open to the participation of partners beyond the southern Mediterranean, targeting in particular the Gulf countries, sub-Saharan Africa, the Western Balkans, and Turkey.
The key objective, therefore, is to strengthen cooperation between the EU, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf region. And, in short, to demonstrate the EU's own ambitions in shaping geopolitics through shared prosperity.