The Mediterranean has long been a cradle of cultural richness and interconnectedness. As a meeting point for civilizations, it embodies a shared heritage where diverse cultures where cultural, economic and scientific relations and exchanges have flourished. This unique identity has fostered strong networks and a deep sense of regional unity.
November 2025 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, a landmark initiative in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, launched in 1995 inspired by the hope of shared peace in the Middle East. This initiative united countries from both shores of the Mediterranean to strengthen ties and address common challenges across cultural, economic, political, and environmental domains. The Barcelona Process paved the way for the establishment of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in 2008, solidifying a spirit of regional cooperation that continues to this day.
30 Years of the Barcelona Process
Challenges at a crossroads
This anniversary arrives at a time of profound disruption. The conflict in the Middle East has proven that the region’s stability is crucial for global security, and any crisis within or around it inevitably reverberates around the world. Moreover, the region faces widening economic disparities, an escalating climate emergency, social fragility and vulnerability. In such a critical context, it is important to reflect on whether enough has been done over the past thirty years to empower regional and multilateral cooperation frameworks to address common challenges.
A call for a renewed multilateral cooperation
As we look ahead, 2025 must be a year of renewed dialogue and collaboration. It is time to come together and forge a new path guided by the principles of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The coming decade presents a pivotal opportunity for the Euro-Mediterranean region to address complex risks and halt the drift toward further instability.
The region’s most pressing challenges—security, economic stability, migration, climate change, job creation, transport, and energy—cannot be tackled in isolation. Revitalizing multilateral cooperation at the regional level strengthens the Mediterranean and plays a crucial role in restoring global stability and order. In that spirit, the new EU Pact of the Mediterranean provides an opportunity to revitalize multilateral regional cooperation.
Strengthening the UfM for the future
Since its establishment in 2008, within the framework of institutionalizing the Barcelona Process, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) has invigorated regional cooperation by creating a distinctive governance framework founded on equality, consensus, and tangible results.
As the sole multilateral forum uniting Member States from across the Mediterranean to address issues of shared interest, the UfM has proven itself as a vital platform for dialogue, negotiation, and agreement.
In today’s context, this convening power and inclusive space are more essential than ever for addressing regional crises. Recognizing this urgency, UfM Member States have initiated a reform process to ensure the organization is equipped to meet the region’s demands, with enhanced resources and capacity to act. This robust reform effort will deliver results at the UfM’s 10th Regional Forum in November 2025. In this context, the UfM is working on ensuring full alignment between its mandate and vision for the years 2026-2030, and the development of the EU Pact for the Mediterranean, capitalizing on existing synergies.
What is the Barcelona Process?
The Barcelona Process, launched in 1995, is a unique and ambitious initiative that laid the foundations for a new regional partnership in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. It was established during the Euro-Mediterranean Conference in Barcelona, where the Foreign Ministers of the EU and 12 Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries signed an agreement to launch the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
This partnership was conceived with the aim of transforming the Mediterranean region into a common space for peace, stability, security, and shared socio-economic progress, fostering dialogue between peoples.
In the Barcelona Declaration, the Euro-Mediterranean partners established three main objectives of the Partnership:
- Definition of a common area of peace and stability through the reinforcement of political and security dialogue.
- Construction of a zone of shared prosperity through an economic and financial partnership and the gradual establishment of a free-trade area.
- Rapprochement between peoples through a social, cultural and human partnership aimed at encouraging understanding between cultures and exchanges between civil societies.
How are the Barcelona Process and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) linked?
As a direct continuation of the Barcelona Process, the Union for the Mediterranean was launched in 2008 in Paris by a decision of the UfM Heads of State and Government. This initiative reflected their shared political commitment to enhance the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.
The UfM brings together all European and 16 Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries, working together on equal footing under a North-South Co-Presidency, currently held by the EU and Jordan. Its mission is to strengthen regional cooperation and dialogue through the implementation of concrete projects and initiatives addressing inclusive and sustainable development, stability and integration in the Euro-Mediterranean area.
The UfM Secretariat was established in Barcelona in 2010 as the first permanent structure dedicated to the implementation of this partnership. It ensures operational follow-up of the regional priorities and supports the implementation of region-wide cooperation projects and initiatives.
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