Is the European Union failing the Mediterranean? Taking stock of the Pact for the Mediterranean

Abstract

Chair Sarah Wolff, Leiden University Speakers Mark Furness, German Institute of Development and Sustainability Rim Filali Meknassi, European Institute of the Mediterranean Richard Youngs, Carnegie Europe The new Pact for the Mediterranean was signed in October 2025 and provides a strategic framework to strengthen cooperation with Southern Mediterranean neighbors and to build a Common Mediterranean Space. 30 years after the Barcelona Declaration the Pact builds around three pillars (people; sustainable and integrated economies; and security, preparedness and migration management). However, also given the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent massive escalation of violence in the region, is it suited for the (geo-)political challenges ahead? The roundtable seeks to explore the potential and limitations of the Pact along the three pillars. First regarding international relations and security, how can the Pact compensate for the negative externalities created over the years through transactional politics such as migration diplomacy, while presenting a real alternative to Russia and China's geopolitical competition and the predatory practices by the Trump administration? How credible is this initiative in the absence of EU's willingness to resolve conflicts in Gaza, the Western Sahara or in Lebanon? Secondly, are economic relations really changing towards mutual benefit? Does the pact reflect upon the criticism of civil society activists on for instance energy partnerships that are criticized for serving Europe’s interests first and foremost? And thirdly, focusing on transnational relations, how can the EU reconnect with parts of the Southern Mediterranean civil society organizations which reject the EU’s support of authoritarian regimes and its passiveness in the Israel-Gaza war? By debating these questions, this online roundtable seeks to understand whether the EU is failing the Mediterranean or whether the Pact is a serious remedy that could help improve the EU’s position vis a vis its Southern neighbors, both states and civil society, and in the global geopolitical competition.