The first block of the EuroMeSCo Euromed Survey aimed to define which challenges respondents expect the renewed partnership to address and what Mediterranean resources and actors the European Union (EU) should mobilise for this endeavour. It also sought to collect respondents’ assessments of the achievements and shortfalls of the partnership as well as their recommendations regarding the changes that should be implemented in the context of its renewal.
Main findings
• There is a strong consensus amongst respondents of the Survey that inclusive growth and the social dimension is the challenge for which greater efforts are needed in the context of a renewed partnership between the EU and Southern Mediterranean Countries (SMCs).
• Promoting an inclusive socioeconomic agenda for the benefit of youth, women and vulnerable groups is also seen as an opportunity that should be seized to give a new impetus to the partnership in the current situation.
• Respondents overall recognise the EU’s contribution to sustainable and inclusive economic development as its main added value. EU respondents are more prone to highlight the EU’s ambitions for climate neutrality than respondents from southern neighbourhood countries.
• Overall, environmental and climate change tend to be perceived as more pressing issues by EU respondents than by respondents from southern neighbourhood countries.
• The United Nations (UN) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) are by and large deemed the most effective partners for the EU in dealing with most of the challenges posed by the partnership, ahead of other regional organisations involving neighbouring regions (e.g. African Union, Gulf Cooperation Council).
• To further support regional (UfM) and sub-regional frameworks (e.g. Western Mediterranean Forum), before mentioning the need to increase its financial support, a majority of respondents were of the opinion that the EU should encourage the frameworks to be more inclusive by engaging non-state actors, academic institutions and youths.
• Corruption, insufficient governance and institutional capacity are identified by respondents from both shores as the main constraint on cooperation between the EU and its southern partners.
• The EU’s support to civil society, diversity, culture and education is perceived by respondents from both shores as the EU’s most successful action in the southern neighbourhood.
• By 2030 the EU partnership with its neighbourhood will need to be more inclusive in order to be perceived as successful.
DEFINING THE EXTENT OF CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Question 1 of the EuroMeSCo Euromed Survey invited respondents to choose and rank three top challenges for which greater efforts should be made in the framework of a renewed partnership between the EU and its southern partners. Almost a quarter of respondents (23%), and amongst them a very large proportion of civil society representatives and experts, ranked inclusive growth and the social dimension as the first priority challenge to be addressed. The second most prioritised challenge (20%) is the one that focuses on the environmental situation and climate change, particularly favoured by policy-makers. Respondents were less inclined to prioritise migration and human mobility, the human rights situation, governance and the rule of law.
There are significant differences between the patterns of answers from southern and northern participants. For instance, southern neighbourhood respondents prioritise the challenge of inclusive growth and the social dimension to a larger extent (28%) than EU respondents (18%). Conversely, the challenge of the environmental situation and climate change is significantly more important for EU participants (26%) than for southern respondents (14%). In addition, EU respondents (15%) are more prone to prioritise migration and human mobility than southern respondents (8%).
Another notable aspect of the breakdown of answers is that Maghreb respondents prioritise the challenge of inclusive growth and social dimension to a much larger extent (35.4%) than Mashreq respondents (13.7%). Conversely, the latter prioritise the challenge posed by governance and the rule of law to a larger extent (22.6%) than Maghreb respondents (11%).
Carmit Lubano, Executive Director of Association of Environmental Justice in Israel (AEJI) was among the Survey' respondednts
