The Mediterranean region has always been a cradle of cultural richness and interconnection. As a crossroads of civilizations, it embodies a shared heritage where diverse cultures have flourished, also cultural, economic and scientific exchanges have thrived. This unique identity has shaped strong networks and deepened the sense of regional unity. November 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, a historic Euro-Mediterranean cooperation initiative.

Launched in 1995, the Barcelona Process was born out of the shared hope for peace in the Middle East. It brought together countries from both shores of the Mediterranean to strengthen ties and confront common challenges across cultural, economic, political and environmental fields. The initiative paved the way for the establishment of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in 2008, aimed at fostering a spirit of regional cooperation among Mediterranean states.

The Barcelona Process laid the foundation for a new regional partnership in Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. At its inception, the foreign ministers of EU member states, together with 12 countries from the southern and eastern Mediterranean, signed the agreement launching the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, with the goal of transforming the Mediterranean into a shared space of peace and stability and enhancing dialogue among peoples.

This 30th anniversary comes at a time of profound turbulence. The conflict in the Middle East has underscored that the stability of the region is vital for global security, as any crisis within or around it inevitably reverberates across the world. Meanwhile, Mediterranean countries face widening economic disparities, escalating climate emergencies, and growing social fragility.

On this occasion, the Union for the Mediterranean issued a call to renew multilateral cooperation, stressing that in such a “critical context” it is essential to reflect on whether sufficient efforts have been made over the past three decades to empower regional and multilateral frameworks to address shared challenges.

In a statement, the UfM affirmed: “As we look to the future, 2025 must be a year of renewed dialogue and cooperation. It is time to come together and chart a new course guided by the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” The statement added that the coming decade represents a pivotal opportunity for the Euro-Mediterranean region to address complex risks and halt the drift toward further instability.

The statement further highlighted that the most pressing challenges facing the region, security, economic stability, migration, climate change, job creation, transport and energy, cannot be tackled in isolation. Revitalizing regional multilateral cooperation in the Mediterranean is crucial to restoring both regional and global stability. In this spirit, the new European Union Charter for the Mediterranean provides an opportunity to reinvigorate multilateral regional cooperation.