The Euro-Mediterranean partnership from a socio-economic perspective

Abstract

The Mediterranean region today is faced with some very serious problems. The constantly widening economic and technological gap between the countries of its northern and southern shores, the continuous increase in poverty and unemployment in the southern and eastern region resulting in mass migration to Europe, and the upsurge in movements featuring religious, ethnic and nationalist violence, are all factors which contribute to an unstable environment. At no other time than at present have the Mediterranean states committed themselves so wholeheartedly to tackle these problems. Fernand Braudel once wrote "the Mediterranean has no unity but that created by the movements of men, the relationships they imply, and the routes they follow." Although Braudel was referring to land and sea routes as a means of communication, the same can be said today for political routes. To this day, the Mediterranean states are still trying to chart the best routes for the future of the region.