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
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 25th 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.