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On 16th October, the College of Commissioners approved the Pact for the Mediterranean, setting out a new strategy to strengthen relations between the European Union and its Southern-Mediterranean partners. In her statement, President von der Leyen put emphasis on mutual dependency, calling for deeper integration between industries, universities and institutions, with a view to establishing a Common Mediterranean Space.
The strategy is structured around three pillars:
The Pact recognises education as a driver to establish deeper connections across the Mediterranean. In particular, the first of its three main pillars, “People as a driving force for change, connections and innovation”, includes several actions aiming at promoting higher education.
The main action focuses on the establishment of a Mediterranean University, which should build on the experience of the European University alliances and possibly benefit from existing capacity-building actions under the Erasmus+ programme. The institution will have campuses in the Common Mediterranean Space and promote student and staff exchanges across the region as well as the development of joint programmes.
The Pact also foresees the creation of a Mediterranean Science Diplomacy Centre, which will train diplomatic and technical staff and serve as a medium to bridge science and policy. Additional actions to be taken include enhancing student, staff and researchers’ mobility under Erasmus+ and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, establishing and further developing Innovation and Research Centres and supporting intergenerational mentoring programmes for sharing knowledge and experience with youth.
The document is proposed for political endorsement by the EU and southern Mediterranean partners in November 2025 and the initiatives proposed will be transposed into a dedicated Action Plan scheduled for the first quarter of 2026.