2007: THE MEDITERRANEAN UNION

The EuroMediterranean Partnership, also known as the Barcelona Process, was created in 1995 with the objective of promoting the stability and the growth in the Mediterranean region.  

On December 15, 2007, the presidents of Spain, France and Italy met for dinner in Rome, with the aim of establishing an updated version of the EuroMediterranean Partnership, a Mediterranean Union.

The French president wanted a Mediterranean Union integrated by the seaside countries of the north and of the south.

Source: eeas.europa.eu

The Spanish president put two conditions:

-The Mediterranean Union had to continue belonging to the general framework of the EU, and in full relation, entail and joint work with the European Commission.

-Its financing would have to come from Europe.

He also said that the Mediterranean Union should focus on the environmental defense of the Mediterranean sea.

The project was approved on July 13, 2008 and renamed as Union for the Mediterranean.(UfM)

Nowadays the UfM is formed by 28 members of the EU and 15 Southern Mediterranean, African and Middle Eastern countries: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Syria (suspended), Tunisia and Turkey.

According to the EEAS site, the UfM has the following objectives:

• the de-pollution of the Mediterranean Sea, including coastal and protected marine areas;
• the establishment of maritime and land highways that connect ports and improve rail connections so as to facilitate movement of people and goods;
• a joint civil protection programme on prevention, preparation and response to natural and man-made disasters;
• a Mediterranean solar energy plan that explores opportunities for developing alternative energy sources in the region;
• the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean University;
• the Mediterranean Business Development Initiative, which supports small businesses operating in the region by first assessing their needs and then providing technical assistance and access to finance.

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Source: "El País"