Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation

This relationship goes back to the Helsinki Process and the Helsinki Final Act, which included a Mediterranean Chapter stating that security in Europe is closely linked to security in the Mediterranean as a whole. This inter-linkage was underscored in subsequent CSCE/OSCE documents, such as the Istanbul Charter for European Security and the Maastricht OSCE Strategy to Address Threats to Security and Stability in the XXI Century. Permanent Council decision 571 set out to explore new avenues of co-operation and interaction and to explore the scope for wider sharing of OSCE norms, principles and commitments. In 2018, under the Italian Chairpersonship of the OSCE, the Milan Ministerial Council adopted the Declaration on Security and Co-operation in the Mediterranean. This reiterated the notion that the OSCE and Mediterranean regions are interconnected in security terms and remarked that “this link between security in the OSCE area and security in the Mediterranean region has become all the more relevant, as has our co-operation with our Mediterranean Partners, given the growing range of challenges and opportunities stemming from the Mediterranean region and beyond”.

The Declaration called for Mediterranean-related issues to be reflected throughout the relevant work of the OSCE across the three dimensions of security, emphasizing the need for seizing emerging opportunities, in a spirit of genuine partnership, co-operation, and ownership.

Over the years, the OSCE has been able to share its experience with the Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation on a number of topics, adapting its agenda to the evolving security context. Initiatives and projects tailored to the needs of the Partners for Co-operation have been developed in a growing number of fields, including:

• the environment-security nexus
• women economic empowerment
• youth engagement and participation
• the fight against terrorism
• the fight against human trafficking
• the fight against cultural property
• cooperation in cyber security
• migration and integration policies

Through ongoing dialogue and joint activities with the Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation, the OSCE shares its expertise and provides insight into current developments, offering a unique regional platform for countries from across the OSCE and Mediterranean regions.

Framework for co-operation

A number of meetings, conferences and special events provide a broad framework for regular contact: 

• Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation participate as observers in the OSCE Ministerial Council Meetings, and on the margins meet at high-level with the OSCE Ministerial Troika and the Secretary General. 
   
• They actively participate in OSCE yearly events, such as the:
  -  Annual Security Review Conference 
  -  Economic Forum
  -  Human Dimension Implementation Meeting
  -  Annual Implementation Assessment Meeting
  -  Annual and Winter Sessions of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

Special side events for the Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation are frequently organized on these occasions, while the Parliamentary Assembly holds holds an annual Parliamentary Forum on the Mediterranean.

• Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation are regularly invited as observers in Permanent Council and Forum for Security Co-operation meetings. 
• On an operational level, Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation are invited to send observers to electoral missions by the OSCE/ODIHR and to second, on a voluntary basis, mission members to OSCE field missions (PC.DEC/430).
• Following the 1994 Budapest Summit decision, the Contact Group with the Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation was established within the framework of the Permanent Council. It is an informal group that meets periodically "to facilitate the interchange of information and the generation of ideas". In 2019, the Contact Group acquired the new name of “OSCE Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation Group” to emphasize the spirit of genuine partnership and underline the new quality of this decades-old relationship. 
• Annual OSCE Mediterranean Conferences provide the opportunity to exchange views and contribute to further developments in the relationship between the OSCE and the Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation. Over the years, the Mediterranean Conferences have attracted growing political participation, thus offering a unique high-level format for regional dialogue between the OSCE and Mediterranean regions. The Conferences are also attended by international organizations, parliamentarians, academics and NGOs, leading to a cross-fertilization of ideas and recommendations. 
• A number of initiatives were developed over the years with the Mediterranean Partners with a view to engaging academics, researchers, and civil society representatives in an inclusive dialogue about the future of comprehensive security in the Mediterranean. Among these, the independent New-Med network produced a number of think tank events and publications, including some of direct relevance to the evolving agenda of dialogue and co-operation between the OSCE and the Mediterranean Partners.