The 28th of November is a day to remember. Twenty-six years ago, the Barcelona Declaration launched the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership to strengthen political dialogue, reinforce economic and financial cooperation, and emphasise the “social, cultural and human dimension” of what ties the two shores together.
Last year, on the 25th anniversary of that process, the member states of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) declared 28 November as the Day of the Mediterranean to “help foster a common Mediterranean identity and […] enhance cooperation and integration in the Euro-Mediterranean area”. The UfM’s five priority areas laid out in 2020 are quite generic: environmental and climate action, sustainable and inclusive economic and human development, social inclusiveness and equality, digital transformation, and civil protection. Not a big surprise that the dire human rights situation, attacks on civil society and rights defenders, and the lack of democracy in the Euro-Mediterranean region were not at the top of the first celebration’s menu this year.
On 29 November 2021, the sixth UfM Regional Forum in Barcelona called for “combating negative stereotyping, intolerance, culture of hate, stigmatization, discrimination […] and promote instead harmony and respect for the other”. ‘Walking the talk’ by some of the regimes represented at the Forum would be a game changer but that is yet to be seen.
In the afternoon of that same day, the third EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting reviewed the progress made in the implementation of the new Agenda for the Mediterranean adopted in February 2021, with priority given to the need to create economic opportunities, work together on resolving conflicts, regulate migration, accelerate the green economic transition, and work on the post-corona recovery. Again, while acknowledging the importance of such issues, it is hardly understandable that the first stated goal of the new Agenda, i.e. “human development, good governance and the rule of law,” is never included in these talks, although the proclaimed objectives are, among others, to strengthen governance systems, boost transparency and accountability, build trust in institutions, empower civil society, and foster gender equality. Next year perhaps? What about a Human Rights Day of the Mediterranean?