EU Med Group

EUMED Group
EuroMed 9
Map of Europe indicating the member countries of the Med Group
Map of Europe indicating the member countries of the Med Group
Membership
Establishment17 December 2013
Area
• Total
1,756,859 km2 (678,327 sq mi)
Population
• 2019 estimate
Increase 202,842,388[1]
• Density
115/km2 (297.8/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)2021 estimate
• Total
Increase $8.786 trillion[2] (4th)
GDP (nominal)2021 estimate
• Total
Increase $7.140 trillion[2] (3rd)

EU Med, EuroMed 9, or MED9 (formerly MED7;[3] from EUrope Mediterranean), which is also referred to as "Club Med" and "Med Group", is an alliance of nine Mediterranean and Southern European Union member states: Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. They are part of the Mediterranean Basin. All nine countries are states of the European Union, part of the eurozone (euro currency), and all except Cyprus are part of the unbounded Schengen Area.

History

The Group was informally established on 17 December 2013 in Brussels at the initiative of the Foreign Ministers of Cyprus and Spain in order to create coordination on issues of common interest within the EU.[4]

It was decided that the group would hold an annual meeting at the ministerial level. The first ministerial meeting was to take place in Greece in 2014, during Greece's presidency of the Council, but instead took place on 14 April in Alicante.[5][6][7]

The second meeting took place in February 2015 in Paris.[8] The 3rd Ministerial Meeting of the Mediterranean Group took place in Cyprus in February 2016 which was also attended by the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Fathallah Sijilmassi. The Foreign Ministers discussed security and stability issues in North Africa and the Middle East as well as the handling of the migration crisis.[9][10][11]

The Group held its 1st Southern EU countries' Summit on 9 September 2016 at the Zappeion Palace in Athens.[12] Following the summit, the Athens Declaration was issued calling for investment to tackle youth unemployment and support growth, as well as stronger EU cooperation on issues of security and migration.[13][14] The next summit is scheduled to take place in Spain, at the Royal Palace of El Pardo.[15]

The seventh meeting was made on 10 September 2020 in Porticcio, Corsica, and concerned Turkey's concurrent unilateral activities in the eastern Mediterranean.[16]

In 2021 it was announced during the Prime Minister Janez Janša's visit to Greece that Slovenia will join the group with a support of France, Spain and Greece.

Croatia and Slovenia first attended the 17th September 2021 Athens meeting. [17] [18]

Members

Arms Flag State Capital Code Population
(2019)[1] 		Area Population
density 		GDP (nominal)
US$ million 		Head of Government
Coat of arms of Croatia Croatia Zagreb HR 4,067,500 56,594 km2
(21,851 sq mi) 		72/km2
(190/sq mi) 		65,217 Andrej Plenković
Coat of arms of Cyprus Cyprus Nicosia CY 875,898 9,251 km2
(3,572 sq mi) 		95/km2
(250/sq mi) 		26,479 Nikos Christodoulides
Coat of arms of France France Paris FR 67,813,396 640,679 km2
(247,368 sq mi) 		105/km2
(270/sq mi) 		2,938,271 Gabriel Attal
Coat of arms of Greece Greece Athens GR 10,722,287 131,990 km2
(50,960 sq mi) 		81/km2
(210/sq mi) 		209,857 Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Coat of arms of Italy Italy Rome IT 60,359,546 301,338 km2
(116,347 sq mi) 		200/km2
(520/sq mi) 		2,106,287 Giorgia Meloni
Coat of arms of Malta Malta Valletta MT 493,559 316 km2
(122 sq mi) 		1,562/km2
(4,050/sq mi) 		16,476 Robert Abela
Coat of arms of Portugal Portugal Lisbon PT 10,276,617 92,390 km2
(35,670 sq mi) 		111/km2
(290/sq mi) 		257,391 António Costa
Coat of arms of Slovenia Slovenia Ljubljana SI 2,084,301 20,271 km2
(7,827 sq mi) 		103/km2
(270/sq mi) 		59,132 Robert Golob
Coat of arms of Spain Spain Madrid ES 46,934,632 504,030 km2
(194,610 sq mi) 		93/km2
(240/sq mi) 		1,461,552 Pedro Sánchez
9 total 202,842,388 1,756,859 km2
(678,327 sq mi) 		115/km2
(300/sq mi) 		7,140,662

Summits

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Population on 1st January by age, sex and type of projection". Eurostat. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b "World Economic Outlook Database, 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  3. ^ Africa and the World: Navigating Shifting Geopolitics. The Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA). 2020. p. 236. ISBN 9780639995564.
  4. ^ "EuroMed 7: Η ταυτότητα και οι στόχοι της Συμμαχίας - Η Διακήρυξη του 2019 με φόντο τις τουρκικές προκλήσεις". enikos.gr. September 9, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  5. ^ "FM participates in "Med Group" Meeting". Famagusta-gazette.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-17. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  6. ^ "" Med Group " meeting at the initiative of Cyprus and Spain (Brussels – (...) - La France à Malte". Ambafrance-mt.org. 2013-12-30. Archived from the original on 2016-10-20. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  7. ^ "Informal Ministerial Meeting of the Mediterranean Group: UfM presents latest updates on regional integration efforts - Union for the Mediterranean - UfM". Ufmsecretariat.org. 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  8. ^ "FM to attend Med Group ministerial meeting in Paris - ABNA-SE - The Association of the Balkan News Agencies – Southeast Europe". Abnaorg.eu. 2015-02-19. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  9. ^ "MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS - News - Med Group's Ministers of Foreign Affairs gave a joint Press Conference". Archived from the original on 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  10. ^ "Ministerial Meeting of the "Med Group": UfM Secretary General presents state of play and perspectives for regional integration in the Mediterranean - Union for the Mediterranean - UfM". Ufmsecretariat.org. 2016-02-26. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  11. ^ "Cyprus - 3rd informal Ministerial Meeting of the "Med Group" - Joint Communiqué (25-26.02.16) - France-Diplomatie - Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development". Diplomatie.gouv.fr. 2016-02-26. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  12. ^ Kambas, Michele (2016-09-09). "EU Med nations hold summit on growth, EU paymasters question motive | Reuters". Uk.reuters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  13. ^ Dr. Michael Ivanovitch (2016-09-11). "Bratislava EU talkfest will ignore pain in Club Med economies". Cnbc.com. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  14. ^ Kostaki, Irene (2016-09-11). "Club Med does Bratislava". Neweurope.eu. Archived from the original on 2019-08-09. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  15. ^ "Spain to host southern EU leaders Brexit meeting". EURACTIV. March 30, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  16. ^ "EU Med leaders threaten Turkey with sanctions for 'unilateral' actions in Mediterranean". seenews.com. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  17. ^ "Cyprus problem to be discussed at upcoming EUMed summit". cyprus-mail.com. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  18. ^ "Hrvatska je od danas dio EU MED, osnažujemo utjecaj i mediteransku pripadnost [Croatia part of EU MED from today, strengthening our influence and Mediterranean affilitation]". vlada.gov.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 24 September 2021.
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