The EU is trying to regain the initiative in the Mediterranean

BarcelonaOn November 28, 1995, the foreign ministers of the European Union, then 15 members, met in Barcelona with their counterparts from the 12 countries bordering the southern and eastern Mediterranean. In the declaration signed 30 years ago, which bears the name of the Catalan capital, they expressed their conviction that "to make the Mediterranean basin an area of dialogue, exchange, and cooperation that guarantees peace, stability, and prosperity, it is necessary to consolidate democracy and respect for human rights, achieve sustainable and balanced economic and social development, and fight against poverty." Thirty years later, the Mediterranean is the scene of the Gaza genocideThe promise of democracy seems further away than ever, and its waters have become a vast mass grave for migrants. This Friday, within the same framework, the Pact for the Mediterranean, the EU's new strategy with a much more pragmatic approach, will be presented: the Mare Nostrum is "a space of opportunities, challenges, and shared responsibilities."

The main objective is to integrate the countries of the Mediterranean basin. Actions are planned in the areas of higher education, vocational training, mobility, culture, tourism, sport, and the creation of a "Mediterranean University," as well as measures to promote opportunities for young people and women. In the economic sphere, the pact seeks to attract sustainable investment, promote clean energy and green technology, improve water management, boost the blue economy, agriculture, digital connectivity, and transport, and facilitate the emergence of start-upsThe pact also aims to integrate supply chains in sectors such as health and agriculture. The third package addresses security, migration management, and climate emergency preparedness. One of the key measures in this area is the creation of a hub for the fight against forest fires on the island of Cyprus.

The EU speaks of shared values, but no longer conditions its policy with its southern neighbors on things like respect for human rights or the promotion of democracy. In fact, in the pact document, the word freedoms It is only mentioned once. "We believe we have common principles that we want to defend together, but we are not including any conditionality because this is a pact: Europe must stop lecturing, and we believe that if we support socioeconomic development, we are contributing to democracy," Stefano Sannino, Director-General of the European Union for the Near East, explained to ARA. The Italian diplomat added that the goal is to implement a package of concrete measures flexibly, without waiting for all the countries on both sides of the Mediterranean to move forward unanimously. In line with the pact, the foreign ministers of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the Barcelona-based organization that brings together the 43 countries of the region, will discuss the most urgent challenges, especially the situation in the Middle East, and adopt the organization's new strategy for the coming years. A roadmap outlining regional cooperation around three fundamental pillars: connecting people by promoting education, mobility, skills development, and social inclusion; connecting countries by fostering regional dialogue, climate resilience, the energy transition, and water security; and connecting economies by boosting trade, investment, infrastructure, and digital cooperation. The Secretary-General of the Union for the World (UfM), Egyptian diplomat Nasser Kamel, noted that the climate emergency is "the main challenge in a region that is warming 20% faster than the rest of the planet and where rising sea levels threaten major cities." Many of the organization's projects focus on promoting renewable energy infrastructure, such as a thermal power plant in Aqaba, Jordan, and a wind farm in Tetouan, Morocco. Adopting policies to promote gender equality is also a priority for the UfM.

Putting out fires

Thirty years ago, the EU was carving out a niche for itself in the world with optimism: the Berlin Wall had fallen, there was a sense that Europe had things to offer (basically a common market), and that it could also be a vector of peace in its surrounding areas through association agreements with its neighbors. Now the Mediterranean is a much more turbulent region, marked by the brutality of the Gaza war, for which Brussels and European capitals seem to have no other idea than to defend the two-state solution, when the Palestinian state is erased from the map and The political situation in Israel completely rules it out.. In her last State of the Union address, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, only mentioned the Mediterranean when talking about Gaza. and from hub Against the forest fires in Cyprus: Europe is only working in crisis mode, putting out fires.

In a world where conflicts don't end, but rather fester, with different phases of intensity, where the proliferation of actors and external interference mean that human suffering alone is not enough to wear them down, the Trumpian drift also means there are fewer resources to put out fires. And in a context where The UN system and international law seem like worthless paper.Europe continues to seek its place, at least in its most direct sphere of influence, the Mediterranean, with its closest neighbors. But the United States, China, and Russia also have strong interests in the region. Dubravka Šuica, the Croatian European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, a position created just nine months ago, admits: "Europe is the biggest investor in the southern Mediterranean countries. We don't just want to be payers; we also want to be active participants."