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Euro-Mediterranean partnership

Since the days of the Islamic caliphate in the eighth century, Spain has always seemed to have one foot in North Africa. The country's accession to the European Economic Community (now the EU) in 1987, after years of stagnation under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, is seen as an illustration of how an economically-backward country can be gathered successfully to Europe's bosom. That, in essence, is the guiding principle of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EuroMed). The organisation is a union of EU member states and 16 southern and eastern Mediterranean countries, including: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Palestine, Turkey, and a number of the Balkan states, some of whom are waiting for accession to the EU. Its aim is to promote economic integration and foster democratic reform in countries neighbouring the EU across the Mediterranean Sea in North Africa and the Middle East. The regional relationship initiative was launched in 1995 with a series of projects covering areas including economy, environment, energy, health, migration and culture. The drive for closer ties over the intervening 25 years has come mainly from the EU, which sees a role for itself in transforming economic globalisation into social, political and cultural globalisation – in other words, it's not just about trade. Josep Maria Jordan, of Valencia University, cites the Spanish experience as a positive example of the benefits of integration, economically, socially and culturally, which could be experienced by non-EU states fringing the Mediterranean. He says that when Spain joined the EEC, it emerged from backwardness and managed to drive modernisation and social progress to become a contemporary democratic state. While progress with the EuroMed project has been slow, he says, it is clearly driving in the right direction. There are many obstacles to confront, however, including the vexed question of economic migration from the poorer south and east. And while some see the project as one aimed at bringing peace and harmony to a troubled region, there are others, notably Russia, who condemn continued EU “imperial expansion”.

What trade deals are there with other countries and economic unions?

None

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Member Countries

Country	Population (2018)	GDP Growth (2021, %)	Date Joined
Algeria	42,008,054	3.8478	28/11/1995
Egypt	99,375,741	3.3267	28/11/1995
Israel	8,452,841	8.1880	28/11/1995
Jordan	9,903,802	2.2098	28/11/1995
Lebanon	6,093,509	-10.5194	28/11/1995
Libya	6,470,956	31.3724	28/11/1995
Morocco	36,191,805	7.3727	28/11/1995
State of Palestine	5,052,776	7.0505	28/11/1995
Syrian Arab Republic	18,284,407	0.0000	28/11/1995
Tunisia	11,659,174	3.3428	28/11/1995
Türkiye	81,916,871	10.9862	28/11/1995

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