Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean (UfM)
Department: Mediterranean and Africa Programme, Department of International Relations
Contact person: Montserrat García
Definition
The Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) is an international cooperation and development organisation of international relations made up of 43 countries. It was officially constituted during the Euro-Mediterranean Summit of Paris, on 13th July 2008
The UpM represents a collective effort to strengthen the cooperation between the European Union and the countries of the Mediterranean basin and constitutes a decisive step towards the consolidation of the Euro-Mediterranean association that was born in the city of Barcelona in 1995, and which is known as the Barcelona Process, the reason for which it has maintained this reference in the name.
28 member states participate in the Union for the Mediterranean from the European Union, as well as Albania, Algeria, Bosnia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, the Palestine authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. In total there are 43 European and Mediterranean countries, which aim to foster the balance between the two shores with the boosting of the Euro-Mediterranean policies.
The city of Barcelona was designated as headquarters of the UpM.
Goals
The UfM faces this period with the goals focused on specific projects, in which the member countries share interests, such as the environment, energy, transport infrastructures, the management of migratory flows, business development and higher education. To tackle these goals, the UfM has a general secretary and six vice presidents, with the headquarters in Barcelona, with its main function being the identification, follow up and promotion of new projects, as well as the search for funding and partners for their implementation.
Participation of Barcelona
Barcelona has played a notable role in boosting the Mediterranean process, known precisely as the Barcelona Process, given the fact that it was born in our city in 1995. This involvement was recognised by the 43 country members of the UfM, which decided that Barcelona would be the headquarters of the Permanent Secretariat, which began to function at the beginning of 2010, in the premises of the Palau de Pedralbes.