Over 100 participants from 33 countries, including about a dozen Ministers/State Secretaries, as well as Commissioners Johannes Hahn and Karmenu Vella gathered in Brussels for the first Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Ministerial Conference on Blue Economy.
Ministers stressed the need to improve maritime governance and create an environment conducive to job creation, innovation and knowledge-based business opportunities through the development of key maritime sectors.
Participants also highlighted the importance of clean and healthy seas as drivers for the sustainable development of national and regional economies, underlining that marine and maritime sectors must be developed in an integrated manner.
Via the Ministerial Declaration which was adopted at the conference, all parties commit to strengthening coordination inside their countries, between countries and among Ministers and European Commissioners. It is this triple coordination that will be the catalyst, the key enabler for the blue economy to flourish in the Mediterranean. The Declaration marks one more step towards the Mediterranean integration.
The signed Declaration is available in three languages:
Declaration on the blue economy (English)
Declaration on the blue economy (Arabic)
Declaration on the blue economy (French)
Commissioners Johannes Hahn and Karmenu Vella addressed the forum via dedicated key note speeches.
For more information, please check the UfM website.
