The EC’s renewed partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood is crucial for our future strategic cooperation with the region

The Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament welcomes the European Commission’s new Agenda for the Mediterranean addressing governance, socio-economic, climate, environmental and security challenges and calls for joint action by the EU and Southern Neighbourhood partners.

During today’s exchange of views in the Foreign Affairs Committee with the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement on the renewed partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood, Renew Europe MEP, José Ramón Bauzà (Ciudadanos, Spain), responsible for drafting our group’s position paper on Southern Neighbourhood, welcomed the decision to prioritise digital transformation:

“Renew Europe made this a key objective when it put forward its Strategic Paper for the Southern Neighbourhood in July 2020.

Unemployment remains a key challenge for the region. The lack of job opportunities, especially among the young, is a contributing factor to the instability in certain countries and the general dissatisfaction with existing institutions.

By supporting the digital transformation in the Southern Neighbourhood, we tap into the region’s enormous potential for innovation, which is key for creating new jobs and halting the dramatic brain drain that puts a brake on these countries’ development."

Renew Europe MEP, Nathalie Loiseau (Renaissance Delegation, France), Chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence and AFET standing rapporteur on Syria, added:

“I welcome the focus made on upgrading and updating our peace and security cooperation with countries of our Southern Neighbourhood. We face common challenges, from radicalization to terrorism and various sorts of illegal trafficking. We won’t succeed in fighting these threats without more cooperation among countries but also between the EU and our partners in the Southern Neighbourhood. However there is no security without sustainable development and without respect of fundamental values. This is why a consolidated and holistic approach to our southern partnership is so important.”

ENDS