EU Med Group

Last updated
EUMED Group
EuroMed 9
Med 9.svg
Map of Europe indicating the member countries of the Med Group
Membership
Establishment17 December 2013
Area
 Total
1,756,859 km2 (678,327 sq mi)
Population
 2019 estimate
Increase2.svg 202,842,388 [1]
 Density
115/km2 (297.8/sq mi)
GDP  (PPP)2021 estimate
 Total
Increase2.svg $8.786 trillion [2] (4th)
GDP  (nominal)2021 estimate
 Total
Increase2.svg $7.140 trillion [2] (3rd)

EU Med, EuroMed 9, or MED9 (formerly MED7; [3] from EUrope Mediterranean), which is also referred to as "Club Med" and "Med Group", is an alliance of nine Mediterranean and Southern European Union member states: Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. They are part of the Mediterranean Basin. All nine countries are states of the European Union, part of the eurozone (euro currency), and all except Cyprus are part of the unbounded Schengen Area.

Contents

History

The Group was informally established on 17 December 2013 in Brussels at the initiative of the Foreign Ministers of Cyprus and Spain in order to create coordination on issues of common interest within the EU. [4]

It was decided that the group would hold an annual meeting at the ministerial level. The first ministerial meeting was to take place in Greece in 2014, during Greece's presidency of the Council, but instead took place on 14 April in Alicante. [5] [6] [7]

The second meeting took place in February 2015 in Paris. [8] The 3rd Ministerial Meeting of the Mediterranean Group took place in Cyprus in February 2016 which was also attended by the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Fathallah Sijilmassi. The Foreign Ministers discussed security and stability issues in North Africa and the Middle East as well as the handling of the migration crisis. [9] [10] [11]

The Group held its 1st Southern EU countries' Summit on 9 September 2016 at the Zappeion Palace in Athens. [12] Following the summit, the Athens Declaration was issued calling for investment to tackle youth unemployment and support growth, as well as stronger EU cooperation on issues of security and migration. [13] [14] The next summit is scheduled to take place in Spain, at the Royal Palace of El Pardo. [15]

The seventh meeting was made on 10 September 2020 in Porticcio, Corsica, and concerned Turkey's concurrent unilateral activities in the eastern Mediterranean. [16]

In 2021 it was announced during the Prime Minister Janez Janša's visit to Greece that Slovenia will join the group with a support of France, Spain and Greece.

Croatia and Slovenia first attended the 17th September 2021 Athens meeting. [17] [18]

Members

Arms Flag StateCapital Code Population
(2019) [1]
AreaPopulation
density
GDP (nominal)
US$ million
Head of Government
Coat of arms of Croatia.svg Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia Zagreb HR4,067,50056,594 km2
(21,851 sq mi)
72/km2
(190/sq mi)
65,217 Andrej Plenkovic 2019 (cropped).jpg Andrej Plenković
Arms of Cyprus.svg Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus Nicosia CY875,8989,251 km2
(3,572 sq mi)
95/km2
(250/sq mi)
26,479 Nikos Christodoulidis, 23.03.23.jpg Nikos Christodoulides
Arms of the French Republic.svg Flag of France.svg France Paris FR67,813,396640,679 km2
(247,368 sq mi)
105/km2
(270/sq mi)
2,938,271 Gabriel Attal
Lesser coat of arms of Greece.svg Flag of Greece.svg Greece Athens GR10,722,287131,990 km2
(50,960 sq mi)
81/km2
(210/sq mi)
209,857 Kyriakos Mitsotakis (45387475571).jpg Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Emblem of Italy.svg Flag of Italy.svg Italy Rome IT60,359,546301,338 km2
(116,347 sq mi)
200/km2
(520/sq mi)
2,106,287 Giorgia Meloni Official 2023 crop.jpg Giorgia Meloni
Arms of Malta.svg Flag of Malta.svg Malta Valletta MT493,559316 km2
(122 sq mi)
1,562/km2
(4,050/sq mi)
16,476 Robert Abela 2022.jpg Robert Abela
Shield of the Kingdom of Portugal (1481-1910).png Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal Lisbon PT10,276,61792,390 km2
(35,670 sq mi)
111/km2
(290/sq mi)
257,391 Antonio Costa em 2017.jpg António Costa
Coat of arms of Slovenia.svg Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovenia Ljubljana SI2,084,30120,271 km2
(7,827 sq mi)
103/km2
(270/sq mi)
59,132 Robert Golob - 52114942369 (cropped) v2.jpg Robert Golob
Arms of Spain.svg Flag of Spain.svg Spain Madrid ES46,934,632504,030 km2
(194,610 sq mi)
93/km2
(240/sq mi)
1,461,552 Pedro Sanchez in 2023.jpg Pedro Sánchez
9 total202,842,3881,756,859 km2
(678,327 sq mi)
115/km2
(300/sq mi)
7,140,662

Summits

See also

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