Dear President, Salvador Illa,  

Dear Secretary of State for EU Affairs, Fernando Sampedro,  

Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean, Kamel Nasser,

President of IE Med, Senen Florensa, 

Ladies and Gentlemen,  

It is an honour to be here today on my first visit to Barcelona as Commissioner for the Mediterranean. To open the MEDCat Conference on the 30^th Anniversary of the Barcelona Process.  

I have very fond memories of my visit in 2004 as Mayor of Dubrovnik on the 10^th Anniversary of the Barcelona Process.

I am grateful to the Catalan government and the European Institute for the Mediterranean (IE Med) for co-organising this event.

Catalonia and Barcelona in particular host an important number of organisations working on the Mediterranean.

This year – 2025 marks a crucial moment in the Euro-Mediterranean relations.   

Together, we are facing geo-strategic and economic uncertainties.

This is aggravated by ongoing wars in our immediate neighbourhood.  

Uncertainties, however, are also times of opportunities.  

In a changing world with 

• security threats 

• an erosion of the multilateral order, and 

• the fading away of old alliances, 

we can boost resilience by strengthening the relations with our closest partners. 

It is the strategic approach of the European Union.

In this Commission, we see our work through the lens of competitiveness and security.  

In our global relations we want to be players, not only payers.

As you may know, the European Union represents 16% of the global GDP.

At the same time, we are contributing more than 42% of the global aid budget. 

To become even more important players, we as the Commission are putting a new emphasis on our engagement with the southern Mediterranean. 

There is a lot of win-win from strengthened cooperation between the European Union and North Africa, the Middle East, and the Gulf countries. 

In a partnership of equals. 

Our shared vision is to become an area of “sustainable prosperity and stability” - as it was established in the Barcelona Declaration and in the Paris Declaration creating the Union for the Mediterranean.   

An essential element of strengthening our cooperation is the New Pact for the Mediterranean – which I will present in October.  

The Pact aims to put the vision of the Barcelona Declaration in practice, ensuring a shared space of peace, prosperity and stability, anchored in all areas of common interest.  

The Pact will benefit from the very broad consultations with all stakeholders from EU Member States and Southern Neighbourhood partner countries alike. 

I am particularly grateful for the contribution of Spain, as well as to Catalonia. And to other actors such as civil society organisations, academia, think tanks, and international and regional organisations, including the Union for the Mediterranean.

Our approach is pragmatic and practical.  

The Pact must be about concrete initiatives and tangible results in key areas for the benefit of people. 

Actions and initiatives will cover three main areas: 

• First, we are putting people at the centre.  

We want to invest in higher education, professional training, and jobs – and promote a common space for cultural exchange, sports, and sustainable tourism. 

We want to create a Mediterranean University Network, and, one day, a true, joint Mediterranean University.

This will help lay the foundations for cutting-edge skills development across the entire region.

Young people are drivers of change, exchange, and development. This is precisely why the Pact aims to empower them on both shores.

I know many of you here today come from universities.

Let me reassure you that research is equally important.

And I look at PRIMA – the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area - hosted here in Barcelona and co-financed by the EU. It is an excellent example of a research network across the Mediterranean.   

• Secondly, we want to unlock the full potential of our economies.  

We want to mobilise capital and foster partnerships. Here I count on the business community and actors like the Chambers of Commerce present today to expand our actions.  

We are developing a targeted approach to private sector engagement in the region.

We are bringing together project promoters and private sector actors to develop a sustainable pipeline of investable projects.

We are also looking into national investment platforms, like the one the EU and Egypt launched on 15 June this year, to match investment opportunities with appropriate financing, including through EU financial support.

An example of an initiative to strengthen our economy is the upcoming Trans-Mediterranean Energy and Clean Tech Cooperation Initiative (T-MED).

With it, we aim to create the investments and quality jobs needed for a vibrant cross-border renewable energies and clean-tech sector. 

Let us not forget: The renewable energy potential in North Africa is enormous. It is accessible, and it comes with a lot of opportunities for investment for energy companies from both shores.

Spanish companies already have a strong track-record in the region. Our job is to break existing regulatory, financial, and infrastructural barriers. 

We can increase our energy security, our autonomy, and ultimately the competitiveness of the European Union and our partner countries. 

Let me briefly also mention an example of connectivity between the two shores:

Catalonias initiative for ports infrastructure and logistical corridors like the Mediterranean Corridor and the Trans-Maghreb Corridor advancing digitalization and electrification in maritime transport.

• Coming back to the third dimension of the Pact, we are also strengthening cooperation on migration management and security — from disaster preparedness to combatting migrant smuggling. 

We want to deliver on the ground by fighting terrorism and organised crime, while also preventing radicalisation. 

We want to work towards legal pathways for labour migration and Talent Partnerships with our Southern Neighbours – without causing brain drain for our partners. 

We want to help tackle the labour shortage. This is a real challenge that we are facing across the European Union.  

Demography also plays a key role for boosting our competitiveness.  

The two shores of the Mediterranean are experiencing opposite demographic trends.  

In North Africa, over half the population is under 24 years old and 63% are under 35.    

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Making the Mediterranean a vibrant space of exchange, sustainable prosperity, and stability, we count on all actors in the region. 

The Union for the Mediterranean present here today could have a pivotal role in steering political and policy dialogue across the region.

It is the only international organisation that brings together all Mediterranean partners.

We must seize the momentum of both the New Pact and the New Union for the Mediterranean Strategy to create strong, effective synergies and its role to implement some of the actions in the New Pact.

I see that the Catalan government is particularly active in mobilising networks of regions – such as ARLEM (Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly) - to make our shared vision a reality.

And there are many more examples where Catalonia is showing the way, such as Regenera4MED promoting regenerative tourism in the Mediterranean, or a pioneering study on climate change and biodiversity across the Mediterranean. 

Todays conference is a crucial moment in re-invigorating the Barcelona Process. 

We are well underway to meet ambitious goals and to turn challenges into opportunities.

Let us all contribute to a prosperous Mediterranean region with mutual benefits for all. 

Thank you.