France’s Mediterranean Policy

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The Mediterranean, a semi-closed sea connecting three continents, is marked by its human, economic, political and historic ties. This densely populated area (500 million inhabitants) is the number one tourist destination (300 million tourists a year), accounting for 30% of global maritime trade and 0.8% of global maritime surface. It is a genuine biodiversity hotspot, more strongly threatened by climate change than the rest of the world, and a strategic region. France’s Mediterranean policy is positive and inclusive, aiming to strengthen the ties between the 23 Mediterranean States and multilateral cooperation.

France’s Mediterranean policy is part of a Euro-Mediterranean Partnership known as the Barcelona Process, created in 1995 in Barcelona by 15 European Union Member States and 12 third countries bordering the Mediterranean. This Partnership was the result of the signing of the Barcelona Declaration (27 and 28 November 1995) through which States committed to make the Mediterranean region an area for dialogue, exchanges and cooperation, to serve the region’s peace, stability and development. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership covered then three main areas: political and security; and economic and financial; social, cultural and human.

In 2008, at a time when Euro-Mediterranean dialogue was waning, the Union for the Mediterranean was created at France’s instigation to give fresh impetus to the Barcelona Process. It is the only multilateral institution for dialogue and cooperation bringing together Mediterranean countries and the 27 Member States of the European Union, for a total of 43 Member States.

France’s Mediterranean policy has three main pillars:

  • Strengthening multilateral cooperation bodies, and particularly the UfM;
  • Promoting a policy focused on civil society and young people;
  • Supporting a strong European ambition for the Southern Neighbourhood.

It is implemented through a positive agenda and unifying topics:

  • The environment, biodiversity and climate;
  • Innovation, digital technology and entrepreneurship;
  • Employment, training and mobility;
  • Culture and heritage;
  • Inclusion.
Interministerial Delegation for the Mediterranean (DIMED)

Created by Decree 2013-13 of 7 January 2013 relating to the Interministerial Delegation for the Mediterranean, and attached to the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs since 2015, the Interministerial Delegation for the Mediterranean (DiMed) moderates and coordinates actions implemented under France’s policy on the Mediterranean’s southern region, both within government services as well as between them and other public and private stakeholders, regarding the environment, training, inclusion and culture, and more. DiMed is helping to implement a positive agenda for the Mediterranean and its projects focused on civil societies and young people.

Since 29 July 2020, it has been led by the Ambassador and Interministerial Delegate, Karim Amellal.

Strengthen regional cooperation

France promotes dialogue between countries in the Mediterranean region within various multilateral bodies.

Informal small-format meetings within the 5+5 Dialogue

Officially created in Rome in 1990, the 5+5 Dialogue is the longest standing forum for “Western” Mediterranean countries. Sub-regional and informal in nature, it brings together, at ministerial level, representatives of 10 countries from the northern Mediterranean (France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain) and the southern Mediterranean (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia).

5+5 Dialogue meetings, which initially focused on foreign affairs, have gradually expanded to include new topics such as the economy, transport, defence, agriculture, higher education and culture.

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM): a new space for dialogue, created at France’s instigation

The Union for the Mediterranean was founded in 2008 under the French Presidency of the European Union and at the instigation of the President of the French Republic, in order to revitalize the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Barcelona Process).

This intergovernmental organization has 43 members, including the 27 EU Member States and 16 Mediterranean States (Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Palestine, Tunisia and Turkey, as well as Syria, which has been suspended since 2011).

Its sectoral meetings aim to encourage the launch of major projects in the Mediterranean region on such themes as the socio-economic inclusion of women, business development, higher education and research, water and the environment, transport and urban development, renewable energies and climate change.

The UfM has a North-South co-chair, currently shared between the European Commission and Jordan. Since 2010, its Secretariat has been in Barcelona with 65 staff members and headed by Egypt’s Nasser Kamel.

The Anna Lindh Foundation

Created in 2004, the Anna Lindh Foundation (named after the Swedish Foreign Minister who was murdered in 2003) is an institution founded jointly by the European Union and its Mediterranean partners with the aim of bringing Mediterranean societies together around culture, education, training and media.

The Anna Lindh Foundation federates 42 national networks, working in such diverse areas as intercultural relations, arts and cultural heritage, research, human rights, democracy, education and young people, gender, the environment, sustainable development and the media. The national networks currently include more than 4,000 civil society organizations from 42 Member States.

The Foundation’s headquarters are located in Alexandria, Egypt. Since September 2021, Princess Rym Ali of Jordan has been its President and Spain’s Josep Ferré, its Executive Director.

Promoting a policy focused on civil society and young people

France maintains bilateral relations with every State on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean. For more than a decade, civil society organizations have also been key partners for France.

The action of these structures goes hand in hand with that of States and the Mediterranean region is characterized by the vibrancy of the initiatives led by a variety of stakeholders: associations, local governments, universities, research centres, businesses, foundations, etc.

In the Mediterranean region, close dialogue has been established with these non-State stakeholders, which are a significant indicator of citizen involvement, especially since the Arab Springs.

The Summit of the Two Shores

An initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron, the Summit of the Two Shores was held in Marseille on 23 and 24 June 2019, with the aim of revitalizing cooperation momentum in the Western Mediterranean region through unprecedented consultations with Mediterranean civil society.

See the overview of the Summit of the Two Shores (PDF - 19.1 Mo)

Some 100 prominent members of Mediterranean civil societies met in five preparatory forums – Energy; Young People, Education, Mobility; Economy and Competitiveness; Culture, Media; Tourism; and the Environment and Sustainable Development – in order to put forward innovative proposals. This work, which then continued in various meetings of civil society stakeholders from the North and South shores and as part of the Dialogue of the Two Shores, led to concrete engagements including:

On this occasion, and in the statement entitled “Commitments for a new ambition in the Mediterranean”, the Foreign Ministers of the ten 5+5 Dialogue States joined leaders of regional and international organizations and development banks to mark the launch of an original process for consultation and inclusion of civil societies in the drafting of proposals for peace and development in the Mediterranean area.

“Commitments for a new ambition in the Mediterranean”

The Mediterranean Forum

Held in Marseille on 7 and 8 February 2022 at the instigation of President Macron, the Mediterranean Forum was a place to hold discussions and make proposals for civil society stakeholders, building on the Summit of the Two Shores held three years prior.

For two years, the Mediterranean Forum focused on six priorities:

  • Environment, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development;
  • Education, Training and Mobility;
  • Inclusion and Solidarity;
  • Employment, Entrepreneurship and Digital Technology;
  • Culture and Heritage;
  • Regional Action and Sustainable Development.

At the same time, the Forum also focused on consultations with young people (more than 200 young people from all the Mediterranean countries), which ended with the adoption of the advocacy white paper, “Plaidoyer Méditerranée 2030”, containing 30 tangible measures to address the region’s challenges.

Here are the different initiatives that were launched at the Forum:

Supporting a strong European ambition in the Southern Neighbourhood

The renewed Southern Neighbourhood policy also enables France to promote, at the European level, this partnership-based, positive approach in the Mediterranean.

It is aligned with the points set out in the joint communication adopted by the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on 9 February 2021.

This new ambitious programme is focused on five areas for action:

  1. Human Development, Good Governance and the Rule of Law;
  2. Resilience, Prosperity and the Digital Transition;
  3. Peace and Security;
  4. Migration and Mobility;
  5. The Green Transition: Climate Resilience, Energy and the Environment.

For the European Union, the Southern Neighbourhood concerns the following ten countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria (suspended) and Tunisia.

See the Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Renewed Partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood – A New Agenda for the Mediterranean

Updated: June 2024