UfM Roadmap for Action

The Union for the Mediterranean (hereafter referred to as UfM) is the unique intergovernmental EuroMediterranean organisation gathering all 28 countries of the European Union and the 15 countries of the South and the East of the Mediterranean. It is in charge of enhancing regional dialogue and cooperation amongst its Member States. It therefore plays a central role with regard to the current evolutions in the region. As a direct continuation of the Barcelona Process, the creation of the UfM in July 2008 was destined to reaffirm the political ambition to strengthen regional cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean area. A first phase 2008-2011 under the co-presidency of France and Egypt was dedicated to the launch of the UfM and to the setting up of the Secretariat of the UfM in Barcelona (hereafter referred to as the Secretariat). A second phase 2012-2015 under the co-presidency ofthe European Union and Jordan, allowed the increase and steady development of its activities, the reinforcement of the capacities of the Secretariat, working methods and partnerships, and a number of achievements that gave new momentum to EuroMediterranean regional cooperation. Considering the magnitude of the pressing and serious current challenges in the region but also the existence of an untapped potential of opportunities, the time has come for a third phase from 2016 onwards. It is to build on the progress achieved, on the UfM identity and added value, and to further consolidate Euro-Mediterranean regional cooperation, thereby generating an enhanced common regional agenda for the Mediterranean in order to effectively and collectively address the current challenges. The recent review of the European Neighbourhood Policy highlighted the EU’s political will to further strengthen the UfM as the expression of co-ownership in the management of common issues in the Mediterranean. This also came as a result of the consultations held throughout 2015 with the Southern Mediterranean Countries (meetings in Barcelona, April 2015 and Beirut, June 2015) during which they explicitly expressed the need to reinforce the UfM. At the informal Ministerial Conference in Barcelona in November 2015, 20 years after the launch of the Barcelona Process, Ministers of Foreign Affairs and their representatives, under the chairmanship of Mrs Federica Mogherini, HRVP of the EU and Mr Nasser Judeh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, unanimously expressed their common commitment to work together on a deepened and operational regional cooperation within the framework of the UfM.

Author: Union for the Mediterranean

23 January 2017