The Mediterranean Programme

Institutional Setting

The Mediterranean Programme was inaugurated in 1999 and it was funded mainly by private and public corporations, banks, and public authorities.

The Programme focused on the Euro-Mediterranean area, thus embracing Southern Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa, including the countries involved in the Barcelona Process, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran and Iraq. It was an active member of EuroMeSCo and FEMISE, and partner of the UN-UNDESA InnovMed Programme.

The Mediterranean Programme operated under the scientific direction of Olivier Roy and the overall direction of Stefano Bartolini. The Scientific Board included two external members: Massimo Livi Bacci (Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence) and Ghassan Salamé (former Minister of Culture of the Lebanese Republic), the President and the Secretary General of the EUI, and the Director of the Robert Schuman Centre. 

Objectives

• To create a network between research and cultural institutes of the Mediterranean countries
• To document and study relevant social, economic, political and demographic phenomena in the area
• To offer an environment for informal contacts between policy-makers and experts around the Mediterranean (migration, political stability, transport and energy policies, Islam, the Israel-Palestine conflict etc.)
• To further develop our understanding of the relations between the EU and the countries of the Balkans, Middle East and Northern Africa.

Main Instruments and Activities

• Organisation of an annual international Mediterranean Research Meeting
• Development and implementation of externally funded research projects
• Hosting of post-doctoral Jean Monnet Fellows
• Organisation of lectures, seminars and conferences and working groups
• Creation of and participation in networks for research and human capital formation in the Mediterranean region
• Dissemination of the Programme’s scientific output through the Mediterranean Programme Working Papers series and other publications