The Mediterranean Cooperation Alliance meets to recall its commitment to active multi-level governance towards a renewed Mediterranean Strategy +25. In the framework of the 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, the MedCoopAlliance held an online conference-debate with Mediterranean institutional, political and territorial key stakeholders to support multi-level governance for transnational cooperation in the basin

On Tuesday 24 November, the members of the Mediterranean Cooperation Alliance met online to debate and call for action “towards a renovated regional strategy for the Mediterranean +25“. This meeting was meant as a contribution of multi-level governance actors to the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, with the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

During the first part of this meeting, the current members of the MedCoopAlliancePyrenees Mediterranean Euroregion, CPMR Intermediterranean Commission, MedCities, Arco Latino, Adriatic Ionian Euroregion – reaffirmed their willingness to make a political commitment that will allow them to continue to develop their collaboration efficiently throughout the Mediterranean basin. In particular, in view of the environmental and global health challenges affecting all territories, it is essential to propose governance tools that promote increased cooperation both within the Alliance and with other key players for a better integration of the basin.

Indeed, the Alliance for Mediterranean Cooperation represents a unique network of networks working for multi-level transnational governance, and has set itself the goal of establishing cooperation, between local and regional authorities and international entities. Its main aim is to ensure that local and territorial challenges are duly considered by global and Mediterranean policy-making actors on the one hand, while collaborating for global Agendas to land in a sound way on territories on the other hand.

Nikola Dobroslavic, President of the Adriatic Ionian Euroregion, intervened in the institutional panel recalling  how the AIE is positioned through its different activities at the heart of the MED area, especially with cooperation projects. He gave some examples of initiatives of the association linked to the 2030 Agenda, (such as AI-NURECC and other ETC projects). He also underlined that, through the MedCoopAlliance, some synergies with other initiatives and macro-regional strategies, such as EUSAIR, are possible for reinforcing  the multilevel governance of the area.

In the second part, after examining the conclusions of the study carried out by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya / Universitat Pompeu Fabra concerning the MedCoopAlliance, outlining its strengths, weaknesses but also its challenges and opportunities, the focus was on providing tangible medium and long-term responses to the situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the sustainable recovery of the Mediterranean. Some outlined answers specified the need to make the most of technical tools to better integrate Mediterranean territories, for example via the development of projects in the framework of international programmes such as Interreg Med or Next Med. Overall and integrated cooperation would also be a way of feeding policies based on complementarity at a macro-regional level.

These aspects will have to be translated into concrete actions responding to this pan-Mediterranean dimension so well underlined by the speakers, which will in turn allow for capitalisation, i.e. making this experience applicable to other territories and other scales, always keeping as a guideline sustainability, in all senses of the word, not only environmental, but also economic, social, financial and political, at the service of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean basin.

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A video of the conference will soon be available on the websites and social networks of the different entities.