News

Beirut, Lebanon, 8 April 2019. The UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, has paid his first visit to the Republic of Lebanon, in the framework of his outreach to the member states. He was received by the Prime Minister, Saad Hariri. During their meeting, Secretary General Kamel highlighted the central role of Lebanon in Euro-Mediterranean relations and its rich Mediterranean heritage. The visit to Lebanon was also the also the opportunity for the Secretary General to intervene at the inauguration of the 7th Beirut Water Week, organized by the Ministry of Water and Energy of the Republic of Lebanon with the support… read more

Cascais, 2 April 2019. A UfM Ministerial Policy Conference titled “Job, Skills and Opportunities for All”,  took place on 2 April in Cascais (Portugal) as part of the 4th UfM Ministerial Conference on Employment and Labour. The Conference provided the opportunity to discuss the most pressing labour market’s needs, in particular the persistent inequality in the access to jobs mostly for women and young people. The World Economic Forum’s Human Capital Index indicates that the MENA region currently captures only 62% of its full human capital potential, which translates to a great margin for improvement if the bottlenecks of informality,… read more

Ahead of the 4th UfM Ministerial Meeting on Employment and Labour, the UfM endorses initiatives to promote blue and sustainable economic growth in order to improve livelihood and create jobs Brussels, 28 March 2019. The Senior Officials of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) endorsed today two new regional projects to contribute to the transition towards sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient development (Clima-Med) and on encouraging the development of skills, knowledge and research in the field of Blue Economy (Blue Skills). The UfM will join forces for these projects with the European Union and Italian National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics… read more

Barcelona, 18 March 2019. The Secretary General of the UfM, Nasser Kamel, met today with Fakhry Alhazaimeh, the Executive President of the Agadir Technical Unit (ATU) responsible for the Trade Technical issues related to the Arab Mediterranean Free Trade Agreement (Agadir Agreement). The UfM Secretary General Kamel highlighted the importance and the opportunities of trade liberalization between the Mediterranean partners. He encouraged to continue the positive efforts among the members of the Agadir Agreement in terms of south-south and south-north trade integration, which also lead to the political decision to enlarge the membership of the Agreement to two additional members,… read more

Paris, 6 March 2019. The Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Nasser Kamel, met today with the members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly, following an invitation by Marielle de Sarnez, Chair of the Committee. During the meeting, Secretary General Kamel presented the recent activities and initiatives developed and supported by the UfM, underlining the role of the organisation in a rapidly evolving regional context, while emphasizing the need to reinforce regional cooperation. He provided an update on UfM region-wide agendas on women’s empowerment and water as well as on the role and… read more

26-27 February 2019, Seville. The Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Nasser Kamel,  participated in the 10th Plenary Session of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly, which took place in Seville on the 26th and 27th February. The annual gathering of the Assembly of regional and local authorities of the Euro-Mediterranean region (ARLEM) focused its debates on two main topics, “Governance and Transparency” and “Youth Entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean”, with the presentation and approval of two reports on those important subjects. UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, presented the members of ARLEM with an overview of the activities,… read more

Sofia, 25 February 2019. In the framework of his outreach to Member States, the UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, has paid his first official visit to Bulgaria on the 25th of February 2019, following an invitation by Ekaterina Zakharieva, Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria. During their meeting, Secretary General Kamel expressed his appreciation to Minister Zakharieva for the support of her country to the UfM, highlighting that Bulgaria has always been a natural bridge between Europe and the Southern Mediterranean countries, and has close ties to the Mare Nostrum in… read more

Athens, 19-20 February 2019. The UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, paid a working visit to Athens from 19 to 20 February 2019, where he was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, George Katrougalos. The new Alternate Minister for European Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, Sia Anagnostopoulou, also joined the meeting. During their meeting, Secretary General Kamel expressed his appreciation to the Minister for the support of his country to the UfM, highlighting the role of Greece as a strong proponent of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, and a country with a rich Mediterranean heritage. Secretary General Kamel also… read more

13-14 February 2019, Strasbourg. The Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Nasser Kamel, participated in the 6th Summit of Presidents of Parliament and the 15th Plenary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the UfM (PA-UfM), which took place in Strasbourg on the 13th and 14th February. The annual gathering of the 280 members of the Parliamentary Assembly, that marks the end of the European Parliament’s Presidency of the Bureau, focused its debates on the important topic of “the challenges of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean”. European Parliament’s President Antonio Tajani, as well as EU Commissioner for… read more

Barcelona, 11 February. UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, hosted today a discussion between Josep Borrell, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation of Spain, and 15 experts and researchers from different Euro-Mediterranean countries on the state of the region and its perspectives horizon 2030. Organized in collaboration with EuroMeSCo, the main network of research centres on politics and security in the Mediterranean, the round-table debate was moderated by Ambassador Senén Florensa, President of its General Assembly.  The discussion was structured around four main issues, namely: the security situation in the MENA region; migration; the social contract in MENA economies; and… read more