An Interview with Senén Florensa, Executive President of the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed)
2 Mar 2015
Could you please elaborate on the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed)’s mission and structure?
Founded in 1989, the European Institute of the Mediterranean is acting as a consortium made up of the Government of Catalonia, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Barcelona Town Council. Civil society representatives, in turn, secured a place in the Institute by being selected to serve on its Board of Trustees and its Advisory Council, which also includes members of Mediterranean universities, companies, and organizations, and other noteworthy individuals.
IEMed’s overarching mission is to help gradually create a Mediterranean region defined by peace and stability, and by shared prosperity and dialogue between cultures and civilizations. It serves this goal by functioning as a multidisciplinary think tank that focuses on Mediterranean relations, primarily via an active publications program, seminars and conferences, research projects, formalized debates, and a broad cultural program. IEMed also encourages analysis, understanding and cooperation through its public diplomacy efforts, which involve mobilizing civil society, cooperating with its founding member organizations, and working with European institutions.
Finally, IEMed participates in a variety of regional, cross-board networks and programs (including the ISN). Since 2010, for example, it has hosted the Secretariat of the Euro-Mediterranean Study Commission (external pageEuroMeSCo), which is the main network of research centers and institutes that focus on policy and security in the region and is the 7th best think tank network in the world, according to the 2014 edition of the external pageGlobal Go To Think Tank Index.
What can you tell us about your Euromed Survey of Experts and Actors? What are the main trends identified in the latest edition of the survey?
IEMed, after being entrusted by the European Commission to conduct a yearly Survey of Actors and Experts on European-Mediterranean relations from 2009-2012, subsequently carried out a fifth survey so regional experts and actors could 1) provide updated evaluations of Euro-Mediterranean relations, and 2) propose policy-centered ways to facilitate democratic transitions in Mediterranean Partner Countries.
The latest external pageEuromed Survey of Experts and Actors was conducted three years after the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring and in a context where a military-led government once again controls Egypt and the Syrian war continues to destabilize neighboring countries. Given such circumstances, we drafted a questionnaire that focused on possible short- to mid-term scenarios in the region, on the status of democratic transitions in the area, and the local role of the European Union.
Eight hundred and thirty-eight opinion leaders, international experts and major actors from the Mediterranean world responded to the survey and tempered their negative assessment of the most recent past with a positive long-term vision for the region, especially in terms of improved governance and socio-economic issues. The respondents also identified what they thought was a growing degree of multipolarity in the region and suggested that there was still plenty of room for Euro-Mediterranean strategists and policy-makers to have a more positive impact on strengthening local democracy and good governance.
You’ve just released the IEMed Mediterranean Yearbook 2014, which focuses on the on-going transitions in the MENA region. What is the scope of this collection and what are the contents of this particular issue?
Since 2004 the external pageIEMed Mediterranean Yearbook has provided unique, intellectually rigorous and pluralistic types of information on the Mediterranean reality. Published in English and French, it traces the increasing diversity in individual country’s transitional processes while also putting them within a wider regional context. Furthermore, the Yearbook offers future perspectives and trends, particularly in the cases of Euro-Mediterranean relations, intra-regional ties, and the external relationships of individual countries.
The IEMed’s 2014 Mediterranean Yearbook focuses on the Arab Spring and on-going transitions in the MENA region. In its Keys section, it specifically looks at the state of play and possible outcome of the Syrian crisis, the challenges faced by Arab youth, and the future of Euro-Mediterranean relations. Next, the Yearbook reviews recent developments in Mediterranean countries, traces the activities of regional actors, and provides articles on security, economics, population shifts, culture and society. Finally, this year’s Dossier section of the Yearbook devotes itself to the theme "From Revolutions to Constitutions."
On the initiative of then-French President Sarkozy, the “Union for the Mediterranean” was launched in 2008. Seven years later, what is the status of this ambitious project?
From the very beginning, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) presented a number of challenges. It was and still is an enormously ambitious project. Indeed, its sheer complexity represented and continues to represent major risks and opportunities. As early as 2009, for example, the persistence of major conflicts in the region blocked the normal functioning of the UfM partnership, as did the global economic and financial crisis, which affected the EU, its Mediterranean members and, consequently, the entire region. On the other hand, the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009 and Spain’s turn as the EU President, which began in January 2010, represented decisive steps in resuming the UfM project. (The Treaty aided the EU in its attempts to become a more influential global player, while the Spanish Presidency played a crucial role in relaunching the Mediterranean integration process and the UfM, which was officially established in Barcelona.)
Seven years later, the UfM’s challenges-and-opportunities problem persists. Because of changing circumstances, the Union is still having a hard time in fulfilling its potential as a catalyzer of Euro-Mediterranean projects that will enhance further integration. That’s why the UfM, which should represent the final institutional stage of the Barcelona Process, today needs major efforts from all its stakeholders. Namely, the strengthening of the Union’s multilateral and institutional dimensions, as well as the enforcement of the original fundamental pillars of the Barcelona Process (security and peace, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue), all of which are crucial for the future development of the Euro-Mediterranean region.
For additional information please see:
external pageIEMed Homepage
external pageIEMed Publications
external pageEuromed Survey of Experts and Actors (Fifth Edition)
external pageIEMed Mediterranean Yearbook 2014
external pageEuroMeSCo