Taking macro-regional strategies that are already in operation as an example and with past experiences of productive cooperation in the Mediterranean in mind, Parliament is studying the possibility of proposing a macro-regional Mediterranean strategy. This would be similar to the one for the Baltic Sea region, but unlike the one for the Danube region.

The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), created in 2008, represents the most recent and ambitious example of such a strategy, with the political will to revitalise the Barcelona process and succeed in transforming the Mediterranean into an area of peace, democracy, cooperation and prosperity by means of transnational, regional and local projects, based on mutually agreed specific priorities.

1. What is the Commission’s opinion regarding the potential creation of a macro-regional Mediterranean strategy, bearing in mind the institutional structures that already exist in the region?

2. What does the Commission think of the possible participation of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in this macro-regional strategy, based on its strategic priorities, and without excluding any other priority that might arise from joint work in the regions in question?

3. How does the Commission think that this macro-regional strategy ought to be constructed? Should the Mediterranean region be divided into three (western, central and eastern) or two (western and eastern) separate macro-regions, or should a single macro-regional strategy be developed for the entire Mediterranean area?