The EU Green Deal in a Post COVID-19 Mediterranean: Boosting Recovery and Green Transition in the Southern Neighbourhood

CERCLE D’ECONOMIA ONLINE

XVI Annual Conference of the Mediterranean Commission of the European League for Economic Co-Operation -ELEC-

THE EU GREEN DEAL IN A POST COVID-19 MEDITERRANEAN: Boosting Recovery and Green Transition in the Southern Neighbourhood

Organized by LECE-IEMed-CERCLE D’ECONOMIA

 

Introduction

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic constitutes a major political and economic turning point. Leading to an unprecedented global socioeconomic crisis, it has exposed the vulnerabilities of our economic model. It has also strengthened the conviction which was already gaining increasing traction that, in face of climate change and environmental degradation, our economies must be subjected to a profound overhaul to include the concept of sustainability as their fundamental guiding principle.

Drawing up on the lessons of the 2008 Great Recession which led to a “grey” transition scenario, voices from economists, ecologists and policymakers have highlighted that the Post-COVID-19 context urges us to rediscover the road to growth through the transition to a sustainable and green economic model, as a promise for prosperity and resilience.

In Europe, the EU Green Deal announced in December 2019 is providing the much needed roadmap to achieve such a transition. However, because the ambition to make the EU the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 cannot be achieved by Europe on its own, the transformation of the EU economy will also depend on its partners’ efforts, including in its most immediate neighbourhood such as the Mediterranean, major hotspot of climate change.

This is why the European Union will have to cooperate with its southern neighbours to accompany their recovery and transition towards a more sustainable economic path. This priority will undoubtedly further guide the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, today celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the Barcelona Process, notably through the mobilisation of expertise and funds and the creation of new environment, energy and climate partnerships in the region.

With the strong commitment to keep developing dialogue and exchange among prominent actors of the Mediterranean, the European League of Economic Cooperation (ELEC), the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and Cercle d’Economia will devote the XVI Annual Conference of the ELEC Mediterranean Commission to exchange ideas on the ambition of the EU Green Deal in the Euro-Mediterranean context marked by the socioeconomic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts from the North and South of the Mediterranean will debate the opportunity to use this crisis to advance towards a greener and more circular economic model in the Mediterranean. Furthermore, energy will be addressed as one of the pillar of this transition where interdependence between both shores of the Mediterranean demands coordination and collaborative solutions that will be analysed throughout the second session.

 

PROGRAM 

16:00-16:30 Welcoming Words

Anthony Agotha, Senior Diplomatic Expert, Cabinet of the Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, European Commission – Brussels

Senén Florensa, President, Mediterranean Commission of the European League of Economic Cooperation (ELEC). President of the Executive Committee, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) – Barcelona

Francesc Homs, President, Spanish Committee of the European League of Economic Cooperation (ELEC) – Barcelona

Javier Faus, President, Cercle d’Economia – Barcelona

 

 16:30-17:45 Session 1: The Post COVID-19 Recovery in the Mediterranean: Turning the Economic Crisis into an Opportunity for a Green and Circular Transition

 This first session will introduce the recovery efforts undertaken in the Mediterranean region to tackle the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on the economic recovery measures aimed at building a more sustainable and inclusive economic model. It will aim at discussing the reasons why the economic crisis originated from the pandemic makes a transition towards a green and circular economy even more relevant in the Mediterranean region. The benefits of green and circular economic growth would be highlighted, especially how the latter could help Mediterranean countries in transiting during this recovery period. The session will also discuss the relevancy of the European Green Deal as a potential enabler and accelerator of a sustainable growth in the Mediterranean through the engagement with the EU Southern Neighbours.

Moderator: Isidro González, Deputy Secretary General in charge of Water, Environment and Blue Economy, Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) – Barcelona

Speakers: Anastasia Roniotes, Senior Programme Officer, Mediterranean Information Office for the Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE) – Athens

Anwar Zibaoui, General Coordinator, Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCAME) – Barcelona

Jihad Alsawair, Director of the Green Economy Unit, Ministry of Environment of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan – Amman

Stefano Dotto, Team Leader, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Transport. Neighbourhood South, Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission – Brussels

17:15-17:45  Session 1: Debate

 

17:45-18:00 Break

 

18:00-19:15 Session 2: Moving Towards the Energy Transition Together: Impacts of the EU Green Deal in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Energy Landscape

 With reference to the EU Green Deal, this session aims to discuss how the success of this EU flagship initiative is intertwined with a green  transition in the economies of its closest partners, in this case the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region. The EU claims its ambition to be the transition companion of its Southern neighbourhood mobilising influence, expertise and financial resources for a shared sustainable agenda. In this regard, the session will focus on the energy package of the European Green Deal and discuss future energy partnerships with the Southern Neighbourhood envisaged by the European Commission in this context. It will specifically address the need to complement the objective of securing energy supply in the EU with a radical change in the EU’s support to hydrocarbon production and marketing in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries, and in the EU. This session will be policy oriented, recommending alternatives, discussing the potential for more energy inter-connections between the north and the south of the Mediterranean and analysing the options for larger green energy investments in the southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries.

Moderator: Roger Albinyana, Director of Mediterranean Regional Policies and Human Development, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) – Barcelona

Speakers: Houda Allal, Director General, Mediterranean Energy Observatory (OME) – Paris

Mohamed El Amrani, Secretary General, Fédération de l’Énergie, Morocco – Casablanca *TBC

Silvia Pariente-David, Senior Advisor on Energy, Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) – Marseille

Gonzalo Escribano, Head of the Energy and Climate Change Programme, Elcano Royal Institute – Madrid

18:45-19:15  Session 2: Debate

 

19:15-19:30 Closing Words

Javier Arias, European League of Economic Cooperation (ELEC) International Committee – Brussels

Senén Florensa, President, Mediterranean Commission of the European League of Economic Cooperation (ELEC). President of the Executive Committee, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) – Barcelona

 

You can follow this session in the original language through the Cercle d’Economia YouTube channel 

 

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With the support of: