Security and defence in the Mediterranean: a shared approach for the Mediterranean and its neighbourhood

This seminar has been organised annually since 2002 by the Centro de Estudios y Documentación Internacionales de Barcelona (CIDOB) and the Spanish Ministry of Defence. It aims to gather experts, scholars, and civil and military government officials in tackling the different challenges and threats existing in the Euromediterranean region.

Álvaro de Vasconcelos, the Director of the EUISS, inaugurated the event alongside Narcis Serra, the President of CIDOB. Carme Chacón, the Spanish Defence Minister, provided the keynote speech in which she pointed out that many security threats originate from the south of the Mediterranean, in particular from the Sahel area and underlined the Spanish commitment for an EU Strategy towards the Sahel in the near future.

The first session focused on the progress on cooperation between the European Union and its Mediterranean partners on security and defence issues, with special importance given to Morocco and Turkey. The second panel explored how the Lisbon Treaty and Union for the Mediterranean could promote security dialogue between the European Union and the countries south of the Mediterranean. Finally, the third panel dealt with desert security, in particular on illegal trafficking, organised crime and terrorism.