Mediterranean Partner Research Articles

Framing and reframing the EU’s engagement with the Mediterranean: Examining the security-stability nexus before and after the Arab uprisings

EU policies towards the Southern Mediterranean after the Arab uprisings are predominantly seen in the literature as marked by continuity with the past. This is attributed to the fact that the EU still acts with the aim of maximising its security by preserving stability in the region. By examining a range of policy areas, this special issue aims to assess and qualify this claim. Its introduction outlines our case on both empirical and analytical grounds. Empirically, it is argued that we need to offer a more detailed analysis of each specific policy area to assess the extent of continuity and change. Analytically, this introduction proposes a framework that focuses on processes of frame definition and frame enactment to explain change and continuity in the EU’s approach. More specifically, security, stability and the link between them – the security–stability nexus – are considered as the master frame shaping the EU’s approach towards the Southern Mediterranean. This is enacted along two dimensions: the modalities of EU engagement with Southern Mediterranean partners; and the range of actors engaged.

From Neglect to Selective Engagement: The EU Approach to Rural Development in the Arab Mediterranean after the Arab Uprisings

After the Arab uprisings, the EU designed a new regional programme for the development of the agricultural sector of the European Neighbourhood Policy partners. The European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) is based on an integrated logic for rural development. This new conceptual framework advocates multi-sectoral planning and the active participation of local actors in the decision-making process in order to promote inclusive growth and to support small and medium enterprises. This approach aims to contribute to the security and stability of the rural areas of the Arab Mediterranean partners. This paper analyses ENPARD and it argues that the inclusion of new actors in the design of the programme has partially challenged established views of policy-makers within the EU. However, EU engagement in this area is still determined by a hierarchical mode that puts local actors at the bottom of the decision-making process and it is driven by a technocratic ratchet mechanism that fits new information into existing cognitive frames. Despite some positive changes in national policies, the paper claims that this type of technocratic engineering does not change social relations in rural areas and it undermines the success of the programme.

EU Policy Initiatives in the Mediterranean Region

Abstract The article traces the various stages in the development of EU - the Mediterranean region as well as the EU policy initiatives in the Mediterranean region. The very history of the European unification gives hope that by gaining experience in overcoming the difficulties of diverse nature, the Union will be able to “reset” relations with its Mediterranean partners, basing them on new principles and values.

The Waste Cluster Initiative - Evolving from a Cluster of Projects to a Cluster of Knowledge

The WASTE CLUSTER INITIATIVE (WCI) focuses on the creation of an international balanced network of (regional) waste management-related initiatives, for mutual learning and exchange of knowledge, skills and technologies that will lead to an optimization of waste management-related innovation and competitiveness excellence. This cluster will stimulate the innovation and business creation by the expansion and enhancement of a network of regional waste management-oriented clusters, not only circumscribed at a European dimension but also considering Mediterranean Partner Countries MPCs, thus maximizing the usage of knowledge spillovers. This cluster involves the spatial concentration of complementary activities with intensive interaction, achieving extraordinary performance and competitiveness, obtaining benefits for industry, society and research. WASTE CLUSTER takes advantage starting form a natural integration of different ongoing projects such as SOWAEUMED, STInno, WASTEKIT and TEMP, which had already identify two strategic common topics that should be the major thematic focus of the WASTE CLUSTER INITIATIVE: 1)Water and Waste Water management & 2) Waste into Products Technologies and Processes. WASTE CLUSTER is a free entrance strategy rather than a close club, where the diffusion to all the Project partners is ensured in order to reinforce their diffusion to their regional potential interested stakeholders and try to obtain funding synergies. The cluster should be connected to the Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (WSSTP) in order to build a common agenda.

Value Chain Dynamics of Agri-Food Exports from Southern Mediterranean to the European Union: End-Market Perspective

This contribution explores the buyer side of the value chains of the main agricultural products exported from the Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPCs) to the EU, taking Spain as an explorative case study in the broader European context. It draws on the Global Value Chain (GVC) approach to provide new survey-based evidence for better profiling the opportunities and constraints for EU trade for orange, strawberry, tomato and olive oil imported from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey. The approach used complements inquiries using quantitative trade models usually based on aggregate sectoral level. Results show differences depending on the product and the country studied. There are in all cases multiple challenges to be solved at the origin of the value chain including better chain organization, further transparency and security, improvement in infrastructure and logistics, keeping transaction costs manageable at the same time. Consumer preferences in buyer markets when sourcing must be taken on the first place. The findings can have relevant policy implications in terms of prospective Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Agreements on agriculture and food.

Macroeconomic effects of the Barcelona Initiative

This paper compares ex post and ex ante assessments of the macroeconomic effects of trade liberalization in the Mediterranean. Using implications from a standard Ramsey growth model augmented for anticipation and implementation effects, we pool cross section and time series data to estimate ex post the effects of trade liberalization on a set of Arabic Southern Mediterranean Partner countries (SMPCs). We find significant and robust evidence for positive effects on major macro variables and discuss the appropriate policies. Second, we review a number of computable general equilibrium (CGE) studies which aimed at assessing the macroeconomic impacts for the same countries ex ante. CGE projections are very much at odds with the econometric findings and the biases seem to be systematic for all macro variables. Third, we use ANOVA techniques to identify possible shortcomings both with respect to design and target country of the CGE study. We find that even well-designed CGE studies targeted to an average type of country do not seem to yield reliable results. Overall, our analysis suggests that there is no sound statistical evidence to believe that CGE analysis has been useful in assessing the macroeconomic effects of trade liberalization in the Mediterranean. But we find considerable econometric evidence to support the view that free trade policies have enhanced growth in the MENA region.

Venezia, il diritto pattizio e il commercio mediterraneo nel basso medioevo

The economic and commercial prosperity of Venice in the Later Middle Ages was based on an extensive network of international agreements, called pacta , signed with the Mediterranean partners in order to maintain free and safe traffic routes and to ensure freedom of movement for its merchants. The pacts formed the basis of ius or mos mercatorum and the international law of that time. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the Venetian pacts with the eastern Mediterranean, to outline their nature, forms, contents and effectiveness.

EU Mobility Regimes and Visa Policy Towards ENP Countries

The paper compares the instruments which enhance the mobility of ENP Mediterranean and Eastern citizens, by distinguishing between visa cooperation and legal migration matters. Our analysis would suggest that cooperation in the field of legal migration, and especially social security rights, is more developed with Mediterranean Partners than with Eastern ones. This can be explained by the fact that the Association Agreements concluded with Mediterranean states are a more fruitful framework for cooperation than the Partnership and Cooperation Agreements concluded with Eastern partners. As far as visa cooperation is concerned, it is, conversely, more developed with Eastern Partners. It appears that the instruments tailored in the context of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice are more appropriate to favouring the short stay of ENP nationals in the EU, to the Association Agreements. In any case, at this point, the opportunities provided by these instruments have not been fully exploited and cooperation levels remain weak.

European Neighborhood Policy in the Middle East: The Test of Reality

When it was inaugurated in 1995, the Euro–Mediterranean Partnership presented a vision of political cooperation, economic development, and cultural understanding between Europe, Arab countries, and...

Assessment of Urban Mobility Needs, Gaps and Priorities in Mediterranean Partner Countries

Improving urban mobility and reaching the goal of sustainability is a key priority for the European Union. To this end, substantial efforts have been undertaken in several regions within the European context regarding the investigation and successful implementation of innovative and green urban mobility solutions. The knowledge and experience gained, at the local level, throughout the implementation process of such solutions is of utmost importance and significant added-value when considering their successful transferability in other cities/regions within Europe and beyond. Within the aforementioned context, this paper aims first to present a set of such innovative and green urban mobility solutions, as identified by leading experts within the framework of the EU-funded “SOLUTIONS” research project, and then assess the transferability potential of selected solutions in Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPCs). The identified solutions were clustered into four thematic areas namely public transport, transport infrastructure, city logistics and integrated planning/Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. For each thematic cluster, existing urban mobility needs, gaps and priorities were assessed in three selected MPCs, enabling the identification of common priorities for the Mediterranean region as well as the selection and prioritization of promising urban mobility solutions fitting best the local context of Mediterranean cities thus presenting the largest potential towards meeting sustainability targets.

Innovative Public Transport in Europe, Asia and Latin America: A Survey of Recent Implementations

This paper presents some recent innovative solutions implemented in urban public transport in Europe, Asia and Latin America, as analysed and benchmarked in the context of Viajeo PLUS project, co-funded by the EC under the FP7. Viajeo PLUS is committed to identify promising good practices implemented in Europe, Latin America, China, and Singapore. This paper focus on the results gained from the sharing of good practices through case studies, showcases, and capacity building, fostering collaboration between the regions mentioned above and Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPC). The reported solutions deal with very different public transport related technologies or concepts, such as intelligent ticketing systems, inter-modality, mobility demand management, financing schemes, as well as cover almost all the public transport modes available in urban settings.

PV and CSP integration study experience in a Mediterranean partner country

The current study employs static and dynamic analysis configurations under different case studies in order to define the allocation, maximum capacity of non-conventional generation with emphasis on photovoltaic (PV), concentrating solar power (CSP) and wind energy technologies that may be inhabited within a region of a Mediterranean partner country. This work focuses on the impact that may induce any distributed units' addition on the power system's load flow and transient stability. A group of substations were proposed to introduce the dispersed generation with the extension in mind to suggest the voltage level to connect these units. The main issues addressed were the total system losses and short-circuit capacity whereas among the most critical disturbances was a three-phase fault incident. Thermal and solar plants using basic machine models such as synchronous generator, exciter and governor and a wind farm employing doubly fed induction generator technology were chosen throughout this research study. The dynamic behaviour of the system elements was examined by changing the solar irradiance, applying a three-phase fault at the PV and wind power plant connected buses and by performing open-circuit setpoint step tests for one of the CSP exciter models. PSS®E software simulation tool of Siemens PTI will be utilised throughout this work.

Free Trade Agreements Diverging Trade Flow Policies: Evidence from the Mediterranean Basin

We examine the evolution of European Union’s trade regionalism across the Mediterranean in the context of the trade openness implications of the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis. We outline the impact of the 1995 Barcelona convention’s free trade agreement on trade openness convergence between the northern and southern Mediterranean counterparts, using a series convergence tests, accounting for endogeneity and instrumenting with spatial geographic matrices. The majority of southern Mediterranean partner countries reverse their convergent trade openness path, following the European Union’s 1995 free trade initiatives, ratifying Prebisch-Singer’s hypothesis.

How TOI and the Quadruple and Quintuple Helix Innovation System Can Support the Development of a New Model of International Cooperation

This paper deals with the pathway to an international cooperation approach to facilitate the setting up of an innovation-friendly environment in Mediterranean partner countries (MPC). The MPC are in fact a priority for the EU, especially after the Arab spring in 2011. The innovation and technology gap in the Mediterranean area, compared to the main global competitors, depends not only on the limited capacity to bring the knowledge generated into the market by creating a stable and strong link between research and business but also on the need to establish some cultural-based values as described in the quadruple helix model. In response to these challenges, the Mediterranean area has to review and improve research and innovation (RI the main hurdles to the setting up of an innovation-friendly ecosystem can be hereinafter summarized: (a) cultural aspects, including innovation culture; (b) rigid administrative and regulatory framework in the Mediterranean area (it is often considered rigid and unclear, too bureaucratic with consequence in researchers’ behaviours with external actors); (c) researchers’ mobility obstacles; (d) complex and not recognized patent exploitation procedures and IPR process and (e) lack of smart specialization strategies. These factors are able to affect the research and innovation activities, the technology transfer model and its adaptation in different geographical areas. It is not possible not to take into consideration these aspects, especially in the framework of international cooperation. In this paper, we offer a case study developed in the context of international cooperation. The study offers elements in order to create a model for a suitable environment for knowledge exploitation in the context of the international cooperation.

Governing migration from a distance: interactions between climate, migration, and security in the South Mediterranean

Links between security and migration are well established and are associated with the meaning, status, and practice of borders in the international political system. This article assesses how and with what effects the effects of environmental and climate change have entered this relationship between migration and security. It does so by assessing the EU’s external governance of migration in “South Mediterranean Partner Countries” (SMPCs): Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, and Tunisia. It is argued that a focus on promoting “adaptation” and building “resilience” has developed that is consistent with the logic of governing migration from a distance. However, the article challenges ideas that environmental/climate change act as simple migration “triggers” and instead explores implications of movement towards and not away from risk, as well as the potential for populations to be trapped in areas that expose them to risk. It is shown that both have important implications for the relationship between migration, environmental/climate change, and security in SMPCs.

The Origin of Intercultural Dialogue Practice in European Union External Action

This paper analyses the origin of the practice of ‘intercultural dialogue’ as a tool for European Union external action towards the Mediterranean. ICD is currently a relevant instrument in EU external relations. However, when it was first launched in 1995, in the policy initiative known as the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership or the Barcelona Process, ICD was granted little effort by the partners involved. Many accounts from that period agree that this tool initially took a back seat if compared to other political-economic priorities in the EU agenda in this initiative. The paper aims to investigate the reasons for the initial neglect of this tool, which was considered by many to be a relevant innovation when it was launched, but that has actually become a relevant resource for EU external action only recently. Through analysis of EU policy documents of the period, the paper demonstrates that the EU had envisaged strategic use of ICD before 1995, in particular, in the hope of tackling key issues, such as mounting xenophobia in Europe and escalating Islamic fundamentalism in the Maghreb. It thus identifies a dual explanation for the limited and ineffective scope attributed to ICD in the first years of the Barcelona Process. On the one hand, in 1995 a number of Mediterranean partner countries were reluctant to lend much credit to the intercultural aspects of regional cooperation, and, on the other, the EU at that time had a growing but still restrained perception of urgency for the emerging issues that ICD was designed to address.

Strategic Patience and EU Reform-Support. EU and the ‘Arab Spring’: The State of Play after Three Years

The post 'Arab Spring' scenario in the Middle East has produced a more differentiated, complex and unstable Middle Eastern reality, where security problems, lack of social cohesion and a deteriorating economic situation is challenging the cooperation between the EU and its southern Mediterranean partners. A focus on the fall of (some of) the authoritarian regimes in the Middle East region and the possible local or regional consequences of the uprisings has led recent research to neglect strategic issues of importance for the European-Middle Eastern relations. By examining the development of political transition processes in relation to EU support, financial problems in some of the Middle Eastern states and how this affects the possibilities and perspectives for regional cooperation, this article sheds new light on how the EU institutions have worked in relation to strategic challenges in the Middle East following the changes over the last three years in the European neighbourhood. The article concludes by pointing at a disproportionate relation between the EU's ambitions and its political and institutional capabilities, arguing that strategic patience indeed seems to be necessary - also regarding EU's own development.

Policy challenges in transferring the integrated pollution Prevention and control approach to Southern Mediterranean countries: a case study

The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive is one of the most relevant environmental regulations in Europe. It affects approximately 50,000 installations belonging to the most polluting industrial sectors. Several scholars have studied the effects of the Directive at the firm level, investigating its effects on environmental performance and competitiveness. Despite this, few studies have focused on experiences related to the transference of the Directive's principles to countries beyond the borders of the European Union. This paper describes a case study that assessed the transposition of the European Union Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control scheme to Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia by means of a method designed for this purpose, which provides the guidelines for analysing and benchmarking policy and legislative frameworks in these Mediterranean Partner Countries by supplying information on the European integrated system for Pollution Prevention and Control. The paper outlines the methodological approach adopted in the two-year international 7th Framework Programme project, Boosting Best Available Techniques in the Mediterranean Partner Countries, pointing out various policy scenarios suitable for implementing the key principles of this scheme in Southern Mediterranean countries. The evaluation of these scenarios establishes the steps to take in order to gradually approach the adoption of the most relevant aspects of the European Union's Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control system and the adoption of the Best Available Techniques in the Mediterranean Partner Countries.

Local Sustainability and Cooperation Actions in the Mediterranean Region

The populations of the Middle East and Africa are increasing rapidly, contributing to rapid urban growth. This paper describes a two-year action research process involving diverse public, private, and community stakeholders. The actions aimed to develop and strengthen the capabilities of three Mediterranean cities (Marrakech, Morocco; Sin el Fil, Lebanon; and Bodrum, Turkey) in managing and promoting local sustainable development. The needs and priorities of each Mediterranean partner were identified and pilot actions were elaborated to promote urban sustainability, the exploitation of local resources, and the enhancement of local tangible and intangible assets. The paper describes the outputs of pilot actions carried out in these cities, highlighting how these experiences contribute to the current debate on urban sustainability. Broad implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Bioremediation of Southern Mediterranean oil polluted sites comes of age

Mediterranean Sea is facing a very high risk of oil pollution due to the high number of oil extractive and refining sites along the basin coasts, and the intense maritime traffic of oil tankers. All the Mediterranean countries have adopted severe regulations for minimizing pollution events and bioremediation feasibility studies for the most urgent polluted sites are undergoing. However, the analysis of the scientific studies applying modern 'meta-omics' technologies that have been performed on marine oil pollution worldwide showed that the Southern Mediterranean side has been neglected by the international research. Most of the studies in the Mediterranean Sea have been done in polluted sites of the Northern side of the basin. Those of the Southern side are poorly studied, despite many of the Southern countries being major oil producers and exporters. The recently EU-funded research project ULIXES has as a major objective to increase the knowledge of the bioremediation potential of sites from the Southern Mediterranean countries. ULIXES is targeting four major polluted sites on the coastlines of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, including seashore sands, lagoons, and oil refinery polluted sediments. The research is designed to unravel, categorize, catalogue, exploit and manage the diversity and ecology of microorganisms thriving in these polluted sites. Isolation of novel hydrocarbon degrading microbes and a series of state of the art 'meta-omics' technologies are the baseline tools for improving our knowledge on biodegradation capacities mediated by microbes under different environmental settings and for designing novel site-tailored bioremediation approaches. A network of twelve European and Southern Mediterranean partners is cooperating for plugging the existing gap of knowledge for the development of novel bioremediation processes targeting such poorly investigated polluted sites.