Spain Joins the CMI as Its Newest Member

Tags: Europe / 2020

Alberto Moreno Humet, Consul General of Spain in Marseille and Blanca Moreno-Dodson, CMI Manager

The CMI and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing the membership of Spain in the Center for Mediterranean Integration.

This new membership crystallizes a longstanding and successful collaboration that has linked both parties for years. It will contribute to both parties’ efforts to promote regional cooperation in pursuit of the common objectives of resilience and socio-economic transformation in the Mediterranean.

By becoming a member of the CMI, the Spanish Kingdom gains a seat on the center’s oversight committee and therefore becomes an active contributor to the designing of CMI’s strategy and actions. Spain’s membership also opens the door for a reinforced inclusion of Spanish civil society, academia, governmental institutions in the Center’s activities.

CMI Manager Blanca Moreno-Dodson describes the new MoU as a “milestone”. “We are very proud to welcome Spain as a new member of the CMI. Turning our close collaboration with Spain into an official membership, is the starting point of a new stage where a stronger and more inclusive CMI can count on Spanish experience and influence. The extension of regional cooperation to the key actors in the Mediterranean is essential to develop political reforms for the transformation and the development in the region, especially at present times when common challenges such as climate change or migration require joint actions” she adds.

By joining the CMI, Spain joins the center’s existing members which include the Mediterranean states of Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Authority and Tunisia as well as the City of Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, the World Bank Group, the European Investment Bank and the EU External Action Service (observer).

The CMI has partnerships at its core. In addition to its members, it holds partnerships with technical institutions such as the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the Anna Lindh Foundation, the French Development Agency (AFD), the German Development agency (GiZ), the UK Department for International Development (DFID) among many others.