THE ISSUE
Political instability in the southern Mediterranean countries have highlighted the unsustainability of their economic models. Widespread economic discontent, and in particular very high youth unemployment, underpinned the Arab Spring uprisings. As the refugee crisis shows, this is also Europe’s problem and Euro-Mediterranean economic cooperation needs to be reviewed. Energy is a key part of the cooperation framework.
Policy Challenge
Trade links between southern Mediterranean countries (SMCs) are very limited and they trade mainly with the European Union. Energy represents more than half of SMC exports to the EU. While the regional energy relationships were developed on a bilateral basis, the EU’s …read more
Source: Bruegel