Our History

Context and Evolution

Before the Barcelona conference, two major Mediterranean water conferences were held:

• The First Mediterranean Water Conference, held in Algiers in May 1990.
• The Second Mediterranean Water Conference held in Rome in October 1992

Partnership Sections

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership is composed of three sections:

1. Political and Security: "Securing peace and stability".
2. Economic and Financial: "Establishing an area of shared prosperity".
3. Social, Cultural and Human: "Promoting mutual understanding by exchanges of experiences between civil societies and the development of social and cultural cooperation".

Based on the principles of the Mediterranean Water Charter drawn up at the 2nd Mediterranean Water Conference, a specific chapter of the Economic and Financial Section is dedicated to water.

The Economic and financial Partnership section: Water chapter

One of the 13 chapters of the Economic and Financial Partnership Section is dedicated to water, acknowledging its growing importance in light of the shortage of water resources.

Water is defined as a priority issue for all the Mediterranean partners and it will gain in importance as water scarcity becomes more pressing. The purpose of cooperation in this area is to be as follows:

• Take stock of the situation taking into account current and future needs;
• Identify ways of reinforcing regional cooperation;
• Make proposals for rationalising the planning and management of water resources, where appropriate on a joint basis;
• Contribute towards the creation of new sources of water

MEDA programme

• MEDA I (1995-1999) et MEDA II (2000-2006) are the main financial instruments of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.  They aim to support economic transition, to develop better socio-economic balance, to foster regional integration and to gradually create a euro-Mediterranean free trade area

Subsequent Conferences and Initiatives

• Marseille 1996: Euro-Mediterranean Conference on Water Management.   
• Malta 1997: 2nd Euromed Foreign Ministers Conference.
• Helsinki 1997: Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on the Environment.
• Naples 1997:  Euro-Mediterranean Conference of 27 General Directors of Water Management.
• Palermo 1998: Euromed ad-hoc ministerial meeting.
• Stuttgart 1999: 3rd Euromed Foreign Ministers Conference.