Getting the future right | Glenn Micallef

In the current globalised and interdependent geopolitical and economic context, a country can afford to be an island only in the cartographic sense. All the more so in a diverse and densely populated region facing very specific and intertwined challenges and having boundless opportunities like the Mediterranean.

For the Mediterranean region to be transformed into an area where citizens feel secure and achieve their full potential, the countries bordering its shores have no option but to work together to address the challenges they are facing and to capitalise on each other’s strengths and assets to increase the region’s competitiveness and resilience.

All this is much easier said than done, but as attested by the outcome of the EU-MED 9 Summit hosted by Prime Minister Robert Abela in Malta last Friday, the southern countries of the EU are committed to putting their shoulders to the wheel and working together for a stable, peaceful and prosperous Mediterranean region.

Furthermore, in the Declaration of the Summit held in Malta the EU-MED 9 have renewed their commitment to ensuring that the EU provides the necessary assistance to the Mediterranean, which after all is in its best interests, as whatever happens in the region will have a great impact on Europe.

The Declaration of the EU-MED 9 Summit is actually a comprehensive, yet practical, plan for a bright future for our region.

The Declaration underlines aspects which are crucial for the EU-MED 9 within the framework of the EU, such as the need to complete the single market, whilst ensuring a level playing field for countries on the periphery of the Union.

The gradual but sustained transition to a carbon neutral economy, the commitment to putting the social dimension at the core of EU policy making, prioritising investment in education and training, and the successful conclusion of negotiations on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, are other examples of EU-MED 9 priorities in the context of the EU.

However, the Summit Declaration looks beyond the EU’s frontiers, as the challenges the Mediterranean is facing know no borders and cannot be addressed by any one country acting alone.

The MED 9 Leaders are calling on the EU to forge comprehensive and strategic partnerships between the EU and our southern neighbours, restoring the region to its rightful place on the EU agenda.

These partnerships have to address the most acute problems our neighbours are facing, such as climate change adaptation and the complexities of irregular migration and the fight against smuggling networks.

However, for these partnerships to be truly successful we also have to help our neighbours tap into their full potential, focusing on forward-looking sectors like renewables and digital. Such cooperation would turn our region into a sustainable green economic powerhouse which leaves no one behind.

Whether we like it or not, the future is coming. We have to make sure that the right decisions are taken at the right time, if we want to get the future of the Mediterranean region right.

The Declaration of the EU-MED 9 Summit held in Malta last Friday can be considered a roadmap to our destination, and we should be very proud that Malta played such a crucial role in the drawing up of this plan.

Glen Micallef is the head of secretariat in the Office of the Prime Minister