Brussels unveils the Pact for the Mediterranean, von der Leyen: “It is a clear offer to our neighbours”

Brussels – The European Commission today (16 October) presented a strategy for the Mediterranean, the precursor to a “common Mediterranean space” between the Union and the 10 southern partners. The goal of “progressive integration”, indicated by Ursula von der Leyen, remains rather distant. For now, the embryo of such an area is perhaps to be found in the idea of facilitating visa issuance and mobility between the two shores of the Mediterranean, especially for young people and students. 

The pact is addressed to the 10 partners bordering the Mediterranean: Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It continues the work begun in 2021 with the Agenda for the Mediterranean, but with a new “methodology”, said Dubravka Šuica, the EU commissioner to whom von der Leyen has entrusted a new portfolio dedicated solely to the Mediterranean area. “We are creating a partnership of equals,” Šuica assured, based—the EU executive’s note reads—on the principles of “co-ownership, co-creation, and joint responsibility.” 

The Pact is the first result of a year of consultations with the governments of the 10 partner countries, the European institutions, various agencies and international organisations, and “a wide range” of civil society components in the Southern Neighbourhood. Next month, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process that gave birth to the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, it will be submitted for approval by the member states and partners involved. At that point, in the first quarter of next year, the European Commission is expected to deliver a specific action plan, which will indicate the countries on board and the stakeholders for each project. 

The keyword is “flexibility”, said Šuica, explaining that “those who are ready to join the pact and the action plan to come are welcome” and that “the others will come later.” The pact is also open to cooperation with partners outside the area: Gulf countries, sub-Saharan Africa, the Western Balkans and Turkey. The strengthening of cooperation between the EU, the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf region “is one of the main objectives of the pact,” the Commission states.

So far, it is not much more than a declaration of intent, based on three pillars: people and mobility, integration and economic sustainability, and security and migration management. “The aim is to create mutual benefits,” Brussels makes clear. “Today we are making a clear offer to our neighbours,” said von der Leyen, aware that an important geopolitical game is being played in the Mediterranean and that the Union, despite its geographical proximity, risks remaining on the sidelines, as also demonstrated by the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the exclusion of the EU from the negotiations for a peace process. 

Von der Leyen spoke of “over 100 ideas and concrete actions.” From the creation of a Mediterranean university—an idea that already belonged to Romano Prodi, when he led the EU executive—to the “linking of our cultural institutions and civil societies,” from the “construction of artificial intelligence factories across the Mediterranean” to “a new initiative for Mediterranean start-ups.” 

And then, migration management, more of a worry than ever for the current European Commission. “On the European side, we will mobilise our financial instruments,” von der Leyen put on the table, “and, crucially, we will do everything we can to mobilise private investment.”

 While on the one hand the EU calls for cooperation in increasingly limiting the Mediterranean crossings of migrants aiming for Europe, on the other hand it opens up to “expand talent partnerships with Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt” and to “facilitate the issuing of visas, especially for students,” Šuica announced, emphasising that “if young people want to come, there are legal routes.” 

Brussels also wants to put in place “actions” related to the modernisation of trade and investment relations, the promotion of energy and clean technologies, water resilience, the blue economy and agriculture, digital and transport connectivity, and job creation. Among the objectives is support to decarbonise the region, gradually aligning environmental standards and regulations to those of the bloc. All this, through the €42 billion for the Mediterranean that the European Commission wants to put in the 2028–2034 budget, doubling the current resources.