In collaboration with Bruegel

In addition to geopolitical instability, countries located along the Southern and Eastern shore of the Mediterranean face a range of pressing socio-economic challenges, including solving the problems of poverty and high levels of structural unemployment, in a context of fast demographic growth. Access to energy is essential to enable socio-economic development. The current energy situation in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries is characterised by a rapid increase of energy demand, low energy efficiency and low domestic energy prices due to universal energy subsidies. In short, the current energy situation does not appear sustainable and poses several risks to the prospects of socio-economic development of the region. With this event, Bruegel and FEEM seek to investigate how the EU could formulate a new cooperation with Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries to enhance the sustainability of the regional energy systems. In particular, this exercise will be carried out with the specific aim to provide a set of policy recommendations to EU policy makers currently involved in this area, both within the new Energy Union framework and the new European Neighbourhood Policy.

The Euro-Mediterranean energy talks consist of a closed door brainstorming followed by a public event where the policy recommendations elaborated in the previous closed door sessions will be discussed with participants from the Institutions and from Industry.