Euro-Mediterranean actors call for strengthening of regional cooperation ahead of 30th anniversary of Barcelona Process

In anticipation of the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, a landmark Euro-Mediterranean initiative to bring the region’s countries together to address common challenges, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) gathered more than 120 institutional and civil society actors as well as senior officials from the organisation’s 43 Member States over three days to provide inputs on how to strengthen regional cooperation with a view to redefining it for the years to come. 

Against the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East and other critical issues such as alarming climate trends and widening socioeconomic disparities, the UfM held an inclusive and participatory consultative session co-organised with the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) to address what the organisation’s future vision, priorities and mandate should be. 

This comes following the realisation that the UfM needs profound strengthening to better respond to the current geopolitical and socio-economic context, prompting it to initiate a reform process, including with the definition of new strategic priorities to be implemented over the 2026-2030 period. This consultative process stressed the need for synergies between relevant policies such as the new EU Pact for the Mediterranean and the UfM’s work, as well as the need to bolster the organisation’s capacities to maximise its impact on the ground.

Participants also discussed what the role of the UfM should be with regards to the post-conflict recovery process in Gaza. The organisation remains committed to leveraging its power to convene governments, international organisations, financial institutions, the private sector, and civil society to facilitate regional dialogue and support coordinated actions on the ground. In addition to its backing of a UNIMED and An-Najah National University initiative for Palestinian higher education students in Gaza, the UfM is exploring others in areas including employment, the water, energy, food and ecosystems (WEFE) nexus, and urban development.

As the motto marking the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, Together for a Stronger Euro- Mediterranean Partnership, denotes, this year the UfM will continue to consolidate a greater commitment to regional cooperation and multilateralism. Cognizant of its shortcomings, the UfM firmly believes that revitalising the organisation is a necessary step to reinforce its capacity to act on the root causes of the matters that impact the region’s citizens the most.

“The 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process arrives at a time of profound disruption in the region,” UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel said. “But if the conflict in the Middle East has proven anything, it is that the region’s stability is central to global security. 2025 must therefore be a year of a renewed commitment to the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, where we empower its institutional framework; reshaping the UfM mandate and capacity to better address our region’s most pressing challenges together.”

“The region’s most pressing challenges 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,” Secretary General Kamel added.

The Barcelona Process was launched on November 28, 1995 – a date that is commemorated annually on the Day of the Mediterranean – when the foreign ministers of the EU and 12 Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries signed the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership in the Catalan capital. Built on the hope brought about by the Middle East Peace Process, it was conceived as a means of transforming the region into a common space for peace, stability, security, and socioeconomic progress, paving the way for the establishment of the UfM in 2008. Since its inception, the UfM has championed Euro-Mediterranean cooperation thanks to a governance structure built on the principles of equality, consensus, and results

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is a Euro-Mediterranean inter-governmental organisation that brings together the 27 countries of the European Union and 16 countries from the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. The UfM provides Member States with a platform to strengthen regional cooperation, dialogue and to implement projects and initiatives that have a tangible impact and advance the region's three strategic objectives: stability, inclusive development, and integration.