Following the European Council held in Lisbon in June 1992, the European Union established a new framework for its relations with the Mediterranean countries with a view to forming a Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. This Partnership became a reality at the Barcelona Conference of November 1995, which brought together Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU Member States and the Mediterranean non-member countries. The Partnership is based on political, security, economic, financial, cultural, social and human affairs. In this context, a Monitoring Committee (MoCo) for Euro-Mediterranean cooperation was created in 1995 to monitor and promote cooperation in Research, Technology and Development. This bi-regional cooperation was re-launched at the Paris summit in 2008 through the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), aimed at focusing on the relations on six main axes, including the Research. These six axes are:
- Depollution for the Mediterranean
- Maritime and land highways: security and safety
- Civil protection
- Alternative energies
- Higher education and Research
- Mediterranean Business development initiative (with a focus on SMEs)
In terms of bilateral relations, the current EU policy dialogue with the Mediterranean countries is framed within the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), which was established in 2004 with the objective of strengthening relations with Southern and Eastern neighbours. The ENP was reviewed in 2011 to adapt it to the changes in the Southern Mediterranean region. In May 2011, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission published a Joint Communication (COM (2011) 303) presenting a new approach to strengthen the partnership between the EU and the neighbourhood countries.
In addition to the bilateral policy dialogues, the Monitoring Committee (MoCo) for Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in Research, Technology and Development plays a key role as a bi-regional policy dialogue platform bringing together EU Member States and all Mediterranean Partner Countries. The MoCo plays a central role in stimulating Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in research and innovation and was assigned the task by the Council of making recommendations for the joint implementation of RTD policy priorities.
EU-MPC Political landscape in the Research and Innovation cooperation Policies
The Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation in Research and Innovation during 2013 has been marked by the influence of the Euro-Mediterranean Conference on Research and Innovation, held in Barcelona in April 2012, the agreement reach in high level informal Meetings during the Cyprus Presidency of the EU during the 2nd semester of 2012 about the need to move forward the application of Art. 185 of the EU Treaty to handle the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in RTD, and the changing political scenario developed in the Mediterranean countries.
Relevant facts to be highlighted are the start of the activities of the FP7 INCO.Net MED-Spring and the Kick-Off of the FP7 ERA.Net Med, aimed at supporting the preparation of the Art. 185 initiatives and the launching of co-design co-financed and co-owned EU-MPC Joint Programming on jointly agreed topics of mutual interest.
Another important fact was the Ad Hoc UfM Senior Officials Meeting on Energy was held on 29-30 May 2013 in Jordan. The Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, HE Eng. Malek KABARITI, opened the meeting, which was co-organized and co-chaired by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the European Union, Co-presidencies of the Union for the Mediterranean. The meeting was an important milestone for the Mediterranean Solar Plan (MSP) foreseen to be endorsed by the UfM Ministerial Meeting on Energy on 11 December 2013 in Brussels. The Senior Officials discussed the MSP Master Plan Draft prepared under the auspices of the UfM Secretariat. They also discussed the wider preparation of the UfM Ministerial Conference on Energy, notably regarding the agenda and key deliverables. The MSP was launched in July 2008 at the Paris Summit by the Heads of State and Government of the 27 EU Member States and 16 Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries. It aims to substantially increase power generation from renewable sources, mainly solar and wind, in the region, setting a target of 20 GW of installed capacity by 2020. It also aims to enhance the use of energy efficiency technologies.
Finally, in this context it is interesting to highlight the 5+5 (Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Libya + Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Malta) Western Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Research and Higher Education, held in Rabat in September 2013 - and later on in Barcelona in October 2013 -, where the Ministers agreed the so-called “Rabat Declaration”, where they lauded, among other initiatives, the “Partnership in Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean area (“PRIMA”)”, aimed to apply the Article 185 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to the improvement of the Bi-regional cooperation in Research and Innovation, in order to create a stable long-term and sustainable frame of partnerships on specific topics on the basis of co-ownership, co-decision, and co-financing. They believed that an effective scientific cooperation is likely to encourage the exchange of experience in science and technology policies, improving the management of national research and innovation systems, and the development of centers of excellence at the national and sub-regional levels. They resolved to promote regional integration among the countries of the Maghreb Arab Union and the continuous deepening of relationships between the Maghreb and the European Union, the Union for the Mediterranean and Partner States, based on a shared vision of collective responsibility and participation, in addition to solidarity among the countries.
