by Mohammed Elrazzaz*
As successive tidal waves of global vicissitudes that brazenly intrude upon our dream of peace and stability hit harder, regions that are more economically fragmented (and hence, less prepared and less resilient to global disruptions) usually awaken quite late to the immensity of the price they must pay. The mirror of strategic orientation is quite often fogged over with treacherous vapor in the form of a propensity to favor bilateralism over multilateral cooperation, short-term gains over broader integration; a mindset completely oblivious to a reality as evident as Euclid: that the overall value of multilateralism is way greater than the sum of its individual parts. Beyond the cold math of the traditional transactional mind, a greater meaning can be sought in regional cooperation and its most noble offsprings: building inclusive resilience and moving together higher up the competitiveness curve.
At the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), promoting a deeper regional integration both across the UfM region and within its constituent sub-regions is more than just a mantra or an overarching goal. At a time when often wise means are mistaken for ends, we maintain a clear vision about integration not as an endgame, but rather as means to a greater end, namely the creation of a common area of peace, stability, security and prosperity. Integration is a prerequisite for the attainment of those legitimate aspirations which formed the crux of the Barcelona Process since the mid-nineties and still inspire our efforts today as we mobilize an ever-expanding ecosystem of partners and stakeholders in an attempt to inch closer to that often cited integration.
Experience has taught us that there are no shortcuts for integration, no hacks and no quantum leaps. For the logos, ethos and pathos of integration to align, political will alone is not enough. Thorough groundwork needs to be undertaken to engage multiple stakeholders across a broad spectrum of economic sectors, raising awareness, building capacities, and reaching a level of collective maturity that would ripen the much-desired fruit of integration. Integration was never a frustrated petit-bourgeois romance or a feat that could be achieved by those who play their cards too close to their chests. It is not a far-fetched Shangri-la beyond our grasp. Naturally, a pragmatic point of departure to address fragmentation is a mapping exercise to fully understand the realities on the ground. Trade, financial markets, infrastructure connectivity, movement of people, and higher education and research are all domains where gaps and deficiencies across (and within) the Euro-Mediterranean shores are holding us back from unleashing the region’s full economic potential at a time when several economic blocks across the globe made significant strides.
Trade, in particular, has always knit generations together in the same continuous effort that leads to progress. The Mediterranean region, more of a cultural sphere than merely a geographical straitjacket, has historically been a latticework of prosperous trade routes and networks. From the Neolithic bartering through the first Mediterranean thalassocracies and all the way to the Colombian Exchanges and beyond, ours has always been a region where trade and progress have commingled symbiotically. We are, however, far from a new apotheosis because the lack of policy convergence, institutional trust, proper implementation of current trade agreements and conceptualization of new-generation agreements continue to impede higher levels of intraregional trade flows. Attempts to shed new light on these impediments usually end up with the light being caught amid the dense foliage of legislative complexities and the hermetic syntax of faux protectionism. Invented stories, at times, are more appealing than the wearisome discourse about starting a veritable chain of integration dynamics.
Sobriety is not a prelude to despair for those determined to start the aforementioned veritable chain. On the contrary, there are best practices and sub-regional solutions that can be scaled and replicated across the region. Whereas south-south cooperation is still limited mostly to smaller scale and halfhearted endeavors in fields like skill development and agribusiness synergies, triangular cooperation has found fertile ground for value-adding formulae that deliver win-win solutions, developing infrastructure and/or building technical capacities.
For the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), a key moment for climate action and environmental protection through triangular cooperation took place at COP28 with the signing of the Blue Mediterranean Partnership (BMP) Statement of Intent, which signifies a cooperation agreement involving major international and national financial institutions as well as other donors and beneficiary countries. Central to the BMP is its Cooperation Fund, which represents a pivotal step towards a more sustainable future for the southern Mediterranean and Red Sea regions by initially mobilizing over one billion euros in investments for Blue Economy projects. The UfM, which champions this vital initiative, serves as a member of its governance body among contributing parties.
In the field of regional energy cooperation, the ELMED Interconnector project will allow Italy and Tunisia to play a strategic role for electricity in the euro-mediterranean area. The interconnection will link the transmission systems of Europe and North Africa to achieve an increasingly safe, sustainable and renewable future for energy, whereas if we shift our focus to information connectivity, the Medusa Submarine Cable System is creating a new corridor that holds the keys to a new era of complementarity and open access. The case for value chain integration was never as strong as it is in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing geopolitical conflicts that pose a crescendo of threats related to food and energy security.
For years now, the UfM Hub for Jobs, Trade and Investment has been instrumental in supporting sustainable transfer of knowledge whether through sectoral communities of practice or through triangular cooperation supported by the German Development Cooperation in areas like e-governance and digital transformation.
The brackets are ever expanding as more and more countries realize that no one country can withstand the scale and scope of global disruption on its own. As geostrategic and humanitarian calamities threaten to wipe out decades of progress, cooperation remains the only viable path that can promise development. Integration is never an idealism when everything is at stake, it is rather the scaffolding over which our story needs to unfold: a story of shared vision, will and cooperation towards deeper integration. Progress, at such point, becomes not only a compelling narrative, but rather a natural inevitability. History has shown us in no uncertain terms that the greatness of any civilization lies in its ability to adapt to change and to absorb multiple influences. This holds true for our Mediterranean today as dismal clocks (climate change, environmental degradation, governance challenges) keep ticking for the region…as the tides return forever. More than any other time, “on the conduct of each, depends the fate of all.”
*Mr. Mohammed Elrazzaz is Head of Sector for Regional Integration at the Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat
